Rubbish means money down the drain
21 March 2016
Waipa District Council has been forced to spend nearly $84,000 in the last seven months to clean up illegally dumped rubbish.
Contractors have spent more than 2,000 hours picking up in excess of 14,000 kgs of illegally dumped rubbish from Waipa roads. The dumped material ranges from fast food wrappers to real estate signs, old tyres and glass drinking bottles, abandoned furniture, kitchen appliances and construction waste.
In one instance a fibre-glass boat hull was dumped and was disintegrating so badly it was a safety hazard.
Frustrated council staff say ratepayer money is going down the drain because of a small minority who think dumping in Waipa's own back yard is acceptable.
This week the council launched a 'Don't Waste Waipa' campaign to advise ratepayers what illegal dumping is costing the district. Figures released as part of the campaign reveal the $84,000 clean up cost could buy 45 new street lights, fund two play grounds, buy 8,000 children's library books and build more than a kilometer of brand new footpath.
Senior enforcement officer Ken Danby said there had been around 160 reports of illegal dumping since September when council proactively raised the issue. In December last year, the council received, on average, a call per day.
"Some of the complaints were relatively easily resolved and cleaned up quickly but there were 16 reports where people had very clearly dumped very large amounts of household rubbish in isolated areas. We are continuing to follow up on those incidents and in some cases have been able to pinpoint specific properties," Danby said.
"We're determined to find those responsible and hold them to account."
He urged people who saw illegal dumping to be observant and to report it as quickly as possible.
"Ideally, we want things like vehicle registrations or photographs; that makes it much easier for us to follow up and catch those responsible."
If offenders can be identified, the council would issue fines to the tune of $400.
"People have been fined in the past and we'll continue to fine them in the future. But we'd prefer if there was no dumping at all. The money being wasted on clean up costs for illegal dumping could be spent far better elsewhere."
Media enquiries, contact Jeanette Tyrrell (on behalf of Council) 027 5077 599