Councillor Heartbroken Over Rubbish Dumping Mess

Friday, 2 May 2025, 8:06 pm
Article: Emily Ireland - Local Democracy Reporter

The clean-up of several years’ worth of illegally dumped rubbish in South Wairarapa will begin soon, with contractors due to meet with the council next week.

On Wednesday, the council’s Strategy Working Committee voted unanimously to take urgent action on the illegal fly-tipping which was discovered down a bank near Cape Palliser Rd early last year.

The mammoth effort would cost ratepayers $200,000.

Deputy Mayor Melissa Sadler-Futter said it was “an expensive reminder that the actions of a few will cost us all”.

Councillor Rebecca Gray said she was heartbroken at the environmental damage caused by “irresponsible human activity”.

“Council is now in the regrettable but necessary position of having to take action and repair this damage in order to protect our precious coastline, and the marine and plant life that live in it,” she said.

“It’s unfortunate that this cost will now fall to the ratepayers of the district.”

A council spokesperson said an immediate clean-up would prevent potentially devastating environmental consequences and regulatory action from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), if waste moved down the cliff into the river and ocean.

The illegal dumping site’s steep and challenging terrain both made it difficult to determine the exact volume of waste and presence of hazardous substances.

As a result, further budget may be required to complete the work.

It also meant specialist contractors were needed to abseil down the cliff to remove the waste, which would be lifted out by a crane and sorted.

The council would aim to meet with all the contractors next week to determine a timeframe that suited everyone, alongside a good long-range weather forecast.

Deterrents had been implemented to prevent any dumping in future.

Once work was complete, restoration of the site would be considered, along with long term monitoring to protect the fragile marine and plant life on the South Wairarapa coast.

Council community operations manager James O’Connor said the council would look to recover costs from anyone whose rubbish was identified during the clean-up.

“It’s a shame we have to dig into operating expenditure to remove waste that has been illegally dumped over several years and it’s disappointing to see such a large amount of waste being dumped on our beautiful coastline where it can damage the natural life of the area,” O’Connor said.

Seasoned councillor Colin Olds said the issue of fly-tipping was an ongoing problem for many councils and said South Wairarapa District Council had previously “invested a considerable amount of money” cleaning up other sites.

He asked whether the cost of dumping rubbish was prohibitive.

It currently costs $4.90 for a council rubbish bag, and $12 to dump up to 30kg of rubbish.

General refuse costs $310 to dump per tonne.

Under the proposed schedule of fees and charges for the 2025-26 year, it would cost $13 to dump up to 30kg of rubbish and $350 to dump general refuse per tonne.

-LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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