A Hamilton business owner was convicted of illegally dumping rubbish in the Hamilton District Court last week.

On 12 January 2023, a person was caught on CCTV dumping a trailer load of rubbish under the Massey Hall Overbridge in Frankton. Council refers to this activity as illegal dumping.

Contents containing a name and address was found among the dumped rubbish and helped identify the person responsible.

Once the person was identified, Hamilton City Council started proceedings under the Litter Act 1979, which the identified person defended.

On 17 November, the case was heard before a Community Magistrate. The person was charged with depositing litter in a public place and fined $604, including court costs and Council’s clean-up costs.

Council’s Sustainable Resource Recovery Unit Director Tania Hermann said she was pleased with the outcome as it enabled Council to recoup the costs incurred from cleaning up after people.

“Cleaning up illegal dumping is a costly exercise, which unfortunately falls on ratepayers. Identifying people not only makes them accountable, but also makes them financially responsible – and rightly so.

“To me, the fact this particular person is a business owner is even more troublesome – they work towards supporting Hamilton’s economy, but their actions don’t reflect pride in our city.

“This person chose to do the illegal dumping under cover of darkness meaning they knew what they was doing was wrong – but chose to do it anyway.”

From July 2022 to July 2023, the collection of illegal dumping across Hamilton cost ratepayers over $120,000.

People can take excess rubbish to the Lincoln Street Resource Recovery Centre. While there is a charge for general rubbish, there are lots of free options for items such as recycling (paper, cardboard, plastics, rinsed tins and cans), glass, food waste, electrical waste, batteries,and whiteware.

Quality household goods can also be dropped off at the Lincoln Street Habitat for Humanity ReUse Store.

“This resident had access to a trailer and was 700m away from the Resource Recovery Centre where they could have paid to dispose of the rubbish,” said Hermann.

“A lot of the dumped rubbish was recyclable cardboard packaging, which could have been disposed of for free.”

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