Lake Rotorua District Council installs fencing to stop illegal dumping

Thousands of dollars worth of fencing is being installed on Rotorua’s iconic Ngongotaha Hill in a bid to curb the continued dumping of rubbish.

The Rotorua Lakes District Council has spent $24,000 to fix the problem – including the cost of fencing and collecting the nearest rubbish dump.

A local woman who has been cleaning the hill for 12 years said that judging by the “expensive” rubbish she has seen, there is no reason why litterers cannot afford to dispose of their rubbish properly at the dump.

The view from Mountain Rd is beautiful. There are expansive views of the city and lake; on clear winter mornings the sun shines on the water and outlines Mokoia Island.

In the distance below the roadside lookout were rolling hills and rows of houses, some with thick smoke billowing from their chimneys – a picturesque sight.

But directly beneath it was an illegal rubbish dump – which was only cleared by the city council this week.

The trash ranges from pizza boxes among household garbage to old tires from broken amusement rides.

This is not a new problem.

Last year, Local Democracy reported on scenes of rotting animal carcasses strewn across the same site.

The council said it had spent about $24,000 installing a 1.8m-high deer fence on a road “notorious for illegal dumping” and clearing rubbish from a “challenging” slide face.

The council’s waste and climate change manager, Craig Goodwin, said most rubbish could be put into kerbside wheelie bins and much of it had recycling potential.

“It’s really frustrating to see some people have such little regard for the consequences of their actions and no respect for the environment or the communities or neighbourhoods where they dump their waste.

“The clean-up will also cost the community money and our beautiful area’s reputation will be damaged.”

The council spends $175,000 a year cleaning up illegally dumped rubbish.

The council collects 1010 tonnes of waste every year from public bins, with a third of them being misused for household waste.

Goodwin said inorganic collection, reduced landfill fees and surveillance cameras are not the solution, but rather behavioural changes in how waste is generated and disposed of are needed.

“The cost of giving landfill free access or issuing landfill tickets would be far greater than the cost of clearing up illegal dumping each year because someone would still have to pay – and the burden would fall on taxpayers, not users paying.

“Inorganic waste collections (free dumping)” were trialled but later abandoned because they created a mess, incurred significant costs to ratepayers and were often abused by people outside the area. Free dumping also removed the incentive to reuse, repair or recycle.”

He said the council would continue to use cameras to monitor dumping hotspots, but there were costs associated with taking legal action.

“The best thing we can do is encourage communities to value their environment and do the right thing.”

If you witness illegal dumping, do not approach the offender, but take a photo or video of the person and their vehicle.

Please report any dumped rubbish to the Council as soon as possible via info@rotorualc.nz or 07 348 4199 so that contractors can remove it before it accumulates.

Twelve years of cleaning up Manggar

As the new national ambassador for Be a Tidy Kiwi, Kiri Danielle has been cleaning up messes regularly for the past 12 years.

“It’s very frustrating looking back at all this cleanup, but I’m also a very determined woman.”

The first clearing was done in collaboration with the hau kāinga (those who have a connection to the land).

“It’s certainly a sacred hill to the people of this area. And it keeps getting toppled over.”

She said New Zealand was a beautiful country but it was not taken care of enough.

“We have to protect Paradise.”

She has her own theories about why people dump their trash, including that some do it to avoid paying the transfer station fees.

“My response is that we all live under the same system, but a lot of people don’t.”

She said curbside collections would be done every week and people needed to have a plan in place to do the right thing.

“That includes expensive takeaways, expensive food waste, lots of expensive alcohol, reusable building materials from renovations, tyres from commercial businesses, etc… so nobody can tell me these people can’t afford to send their waste to landfill. They just don’t care.”

Danielle said environmental issues are bigger than littering and waste.

“But we have to do the small things first and then work our way up from there.”

Rotorua is the launch site for a national campaign where people who behave neatly, such as putting rubbish in bins, are rewarded.

Danielle will also visit the school and work with the council to carry out further clean-up work.

For more information, email info@beatidykiwi.nz or text 0222896996 with the words “Be a Tidy Kiwi” to receive information and register for upcoming clean-ups.

– LDR is a local news organisation jointly funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.