Auckland Council is taking its first cases of alleged illegal rubbish dumping to court since it launched a crackdown on the practice.
Auckland council is cracking down on illegal rubbish dumping, like these oil drums found on Ardmore Road. Photo: Supplied / Auckland Council
Three parties, understood to be individuals and a company, will appear in court tomorrow accused of illegally dumping oil drums in Manurewa and the Waitākere Ranges.
Sixteen charges relate to two incidents in the Waitākere Ranges in January and March, six are for an incident in Manurewa in December and eight relate to the storage of oil barrels at the home and business addresses of one of the defendants.
The maximum penalty is two years imprisonment and/or a fine not exceeding $300,000 for an individual and up to $600,000 for a company.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said the charges sent a clear message that there were serious consequences for dumping commercial waste or domestic rubbish.
"Along with other Aucklanders, I've had a gutsful of lazy and irresponsible people who desecrate the environment and expect other ratepayers to meet the cost of picking up their waste and rubbish," he said.
"I was particularly concerned about these dumping incidents because this looked like commercial waste and the oil in the containers dumped was especially damaging to the environment."
In February, Mr Goff announced significant new resources to tackle illegal dumping including an 0800 hotline to report dumpers, additional enforcement staff, doubling the number of surveillance cameras in hotspot areas and speeding up the process to clean up dumped material in public areas.
Calls to report dumping have increased by 83 percent since then.
The council is also trialling community education approaches including work with the Manukau Beautification Community Trust and Clendon Pride Hot Spot Project, which has seen a significant reduction in dumping in long term problem areas.
More oil drums found dumped on Ardmore Road. Photo: Supplied / Auckland Council
