Warning to illegal rubbish dumpers: new rules could lead to crack-down
Photo:
Supplied/ Hastings District Council
Fly-tippers illegally dumping rubbish could be in for a shock if new laws are passed making it easier for councils to prosecute them, and to crack down on them using clues such as old car registration plates or names on letters or mail.
The government
has proposed revisions
to the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 (WMA) and the Litter Act 1979 (the Litter Act), including giving authorities more flexibility to help them crack down on illegal dumping.
Hastings District Councillor Wendy Schollum told
Checkpoint
that illegal rubbish dumping was an ongoing issue in the community, but the council was currently limited in its ability to do much about the fly-tippers.
Annually, picking up litter in Heretaunga-Hastings cost well over $100,000, council staff had told her - "and that was only in hot-spot areas, so that wasn't even across the whole district," she said.
Wendy Schollum
Photo:
Supplied via LDR
"We estimated that if we were to try and clear every space of litter, it would cost in excess of over $1 million."
The types of rubbish being dumped in the area varied from everday litter, to households worth of rubbish, including whiteware and mattresses.
"It's actually quite outrageous some of the stuff that gets left," Schollum said.
Hastings District Council was not alone in the problem, but critics say it is difficult to hold offenders to account under laws written in the 70s, with offenders basically needing to be caught in the act.
"When I first was elected onto council back in 2017, right from then until now, littering and dumping has been the number one issue with ratepayers in our area," Schollum said.
But at the moment, even with overwhelming evidence, the council often could not do much in response, she said: "Unless someone was literally standing there watching the person do it at the time, under the current law, there is so little we can do."
A consultation document on
the law changes
also noted the problem: The current Waste Minimisation Act "provides limited CME [compliance, monitoring and enforcement] powers. Prosecution is the main means to address non-compliance, with maximum fines of $100,00 for all main offences at a central government level, [and] $20,000 for a breach of bylaws."
But in effect that meant: "For ... offences [other than non-payment of the levy] prosecution through the courts is the only enforcement option, which is limiting because prosecution can be a disproportionate regulatory response to non-compliance, [and] if non-compliance falls below the prosecution threshold, no consequences can arise from breach of the WMA."
Schollum said the current loophole leaves ratepayers footing the bill for fly-tippers.
"In an area like Heretaunga, where they've been hit by Cyclone Gabrielle and we're reeling from recovery costs, our ratepayers don't need to be paying for what is frankly laziness."
She believes the problem was caused by bad attitudes, rather than issues affording dump fees.
"Often people contact me and say, 'well, if you reduce the dump fees, people wouldn't litter'. The reality is that if that were the case, we would see in areas where it's cheaper or free to dispose of rubbish that there would be no illegal dumping at all and that's just not the case.
"The evidence overwhelmingly points to the fact it's about attitudes."
Under the proposed changes, evidence like addressed mail left in dumped rubbish could be used to identify dumpers and fine them.
(file photo)
Photo:
Supplied/Gisborne District Council
The consultation document also suggests a new tiered compliance system, with different penalties for different levels of offence.
This could range from small infringements where a warning might be suitable, for example for "illegal plastic bag use" or minor littering, through to mid-range offences where the most severe consequences were not suitable, up to the most severe consequences, for behaviour like "high-harm illegal dumping".
Schollum said tiered enforcement options would be helpful to the council: "If someone threw their takeaway container out their car window, they're not going to be met with the same sort of penalty as someone who dumps a whole house ... worth of rubbish [in] the community area.
"This is about councils finally being able to pursue repeat offenders and stop communities having to pay for the cost of laziness, but only with reasonable evidence."
The revisions could also distinguish between individuals and larger entities committing offences, and define offences and maximum fees, penalties and prosecution.
Schollum said despite enthusiasm from the community to help in clearing the litter, other frustrating barriers have stood in the way.
"Some of the worst hit areas are actually NZTA managed lands, and at the moment, because of health and safety rules with NZTA we can't even arrange community clean ups on their land."
Even though these set backs have limited community clean ups, Schollum said it should not be the community's job in the first place.
"We shouldn't be having to look at the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff solution, which is the community spending their money and time trying to clean up other people's mess. We need to stop the dumping and the littering in the first place."
Other changes in the proposal include adjusting how local councils are allocated funds to dispose of waste, widening what councils can use the funds for and clarifying who is responsible for what.
Consultation for the potential law changes closed on 1 June, the Ministry for the Environment website said. Next, the submissions will be considered, and from there Cabinet could decide to create an amendment bill, which could be introduced to Parliament to pursue changing the existing law.
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