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A long-time Kerrytown resident says the dumping of rubbish on the Ōpihi River has been an ongoing issue for a number of years.
Fly-tipping has been described as a significant issue by Environment Canterbury – and it is warning those caught dumping rubbish across the region will be fined.
ECan Southern Zone Lead Gina Slee said since the start of 2022 the regional council had received 17 reports of fly-tipping in the Orari-Temuka-Ōpihi-Pareora zone, alone.
“Fly-tipping is unfortunately a significant issue in Canterbury rivers. Despite the use of enforcement as well as education, the problem persists.
“In many instances, material that has been fly-tipped at local rivers could be disposed of at Timaru District Council refuse stations for free,” Slee said.
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She said the council regularly patrols problem areas and its wider team reports any issues they may come across.
“Dumping rubbish is an offence under the Resource Management Act, with a potential fine of $750.
“Once we receive a complaint, an officer attends the scene to locate the rubbish and check for any identifying markers, like items with addresses on them.
“If we can locate the dumper we issue an on-the-spot $750 infringement and also recover costs for our ratepayer funded time.”
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The long-time Kerrytown resident, who took these photos, believes the rubbish shown above was a structure which two people were living in at the Ōpihi River.
Slee said they give the alleged offenders the option of removing the rubbish themselves. If ECan have to remove it, or have contractors remove it, they also charge this cost back to the dumper.
If the alleged offender cannot be located, ECan is unable to recover the costs, she said.
On Wednesday, a long-time Kerrytown resident who did not wish to be named due to safety concerns, said he was pleased to watch as contractors cleared away rubbish which had been dumped at the Ōpihi River, near Pleasant Point.
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The Kerrytown resident said he was pleased to watch as contractors cleared away rubbish from the site on Wednesday.
The man, who said he had reported the rubbish to the council last month, said dumping had been an issue at the Ōpihi River for years. He provided photographs of a lot of rubbish, including the remnants of a structure, left by two people he believed had been living in the river bed earlier this year.
“People come from all over, dump their rubbish and just leave..
“It’s all kinds of rubbish, household rubbish and especially a lot of rubbish from when people are moving houses. A few years ago a couple of guys came and dumped a trailer load of rubbish straight into the river,” he said.
Slee said ECan have placed signage at problem spots, alerting people to the $750 infringement for those caught dumping rubbish.
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Environment Canterbury has warned anyone caught dumping rubbish in rivers faces a $750 fine.
“Our rivers have high ecological value and dumping rubbish in them can harm water quality, native habitat and also hinder flood protection measures.
“We know most people do the right thing and take all rubbish to the local council transfer station – or give unwanted furniture and household items to friends or family.”
Slee said people in the community are their eyes and If someone sees rubbish dumped in or near rivers, to call ECan’s Incident Response Line, 0800 765 588 or use the Snap Send Solve phone app.
ECan confirmed after a complaint was received from a member of the public, contractors were sent to the Ōpihi River to pick up rubbish.
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Gina Slee said ECan has placed signage warning of the infringement fee to deter people from dumping rubbish at problem spots.
