Council spending up to $80,000 a year cleaning Hutt Valley river up after locals

Thursday, 31 October 2019

The Greater Wellington Regional Council says fly-tipping is an ongoing problem along the banks of the Hutt River where lazy and miserly locals are dumping household rubbish, furniture, whiteware building waste and cars.

The Greater Wellington Regional Council is spending up to $80,000 a year keeping the Hutt River's reserves clear of rubbish dumped by miserly locals.

While recreational users clocked over a million visits to the waterway and its nearby reserves last year, GWRC's Wellington flood protection engineering officer Mike Jensen says others have been using the area as a dumping ground.

His team picked up tonnes of household rubbish, furniture and whiteware each year. They also encountered building waste such as asbestos and broken concrete.

GWRC flood protection officer Mike Jensen says the council spends up to $80,000 a year clearing household rubbish, building waste and cars from the banks and reserves next to the Hutt River.

'It's out of sight, out of mind for them but it's very much in a recreational area.'

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Four wheel drive vehicles are churning up the grass on the banks leaving them vulnerable to erosion.

He suspected it was a small proportion of people spoiling the area which was a popular place for exercise and relaxation.

Vehicle dumping was also a longstanding issue with 30 to 40 a cars - often wrecks - abandoned each year.

'Twenty or 30 years ago it was maybe three a week.'

He estimated the council spent $60,000 to $80,000 a year cleaning up the river and its reserves.

'The cost of staff time, machine time to collect the rubbish and then tip fees all end up costing ratepayers. For members of the community it is just the cost of compliance.'

After 38 years in the flood-protection team it was disappointing to see the river bank continue to be treated like a tip, he said.

He suspected dumping was done out of laziness and a desire to avoid paying tip fees - particularly for building and commercial waste. Silverstream Landfill charges $15 or $35 depending on the size of the vehicle carrying waste, or $126.50 per tonne of rubbish.

The council was also diverting up to $40,000 a year to repair vehicle damage to the berms that make up the stopbank flood protection network between Upper Hutt to Lower Hutt.

Four wheel drives were used to churn up the grass on the banks which left them vulnerable to erosion, Jensen said.

Hutt City Council and Upper Hutt City Council were approached for comment.