Cars And Carcasses: Southern Council Forks Out For Clean-ups

Friday, 28 February 2025, 7:18 pm
Article: Matthew Rosenberg - Local Democracy Reporter

Illegal dumping is hitting Southlanders in the pocket, with warnings it could result in a rates increase.

This week, Environment Southland highlighted the issue in a report showing there was a steady diet of fly-tipping, dumped vehicles and dumped animal carcasses in waterways.

Fifty-seven such incidents were recorded in the 2023/24 financial year, with the largest proportion relating to general rubbish.

“Fly tipping has been a long-standing issue, and many councils are noting an increase in recent years likely due to the rising cost of disposing of rubbish at landfill sites,” council resource management manager Donna Ferguson said.

The council estimated it was only able to recover costs for between two and four incidents a year which put pressure on its compliance budget.

It warned a potential rates increase could be on the cards to fund the work.

Ferguson said although the report highlighted rubbish dumping, her organisation responded to a variety of incidents including serious pollution and smoke nuisance.

A total 844 incidents were responded to in 2023/24, tallying almost $1.1 million.

The council was only able to pass the cost on if it could identify the offender, and gave two examples of where that hadn't been possible: a burnt-out car salvaged from the Mataura River and a spa pool which was discovered en route to the site.

The council took rubbish and carcasses to landfill and relied on specialist salvage companies for retrieving vehicles, Ferguson said.

Incidents were brought to the attention of the council by either their own compliance officers or the community.

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