Christchurch City Council spent about $100,000 collecting illegally dumped rubbish from the Burwood Ward between July 1 and November 30.
“The Burwood Ward has been a real hot spot for us since July, a third of $300,000 we’ve spent has been collecting rubbish from there, particularly around Aranui and in pockets of the red zone,” said council city streets maintenance manager Steve Guy.
In the 2023-24 financial year the city council spent just over $1 million collecting illegally dumped rubbish from roadsides around Christchurch.
Guy said the cost and amount of on-street fly-tipping throughout the city is starting to come down.
“Our stats are showing we’re getting back on the right track with a 38% reduction in service requests coming through and a 27% reduction in costs to ratepayers from the start of the financial year until the beginning of December.”
From July 1 to November 30, 2023, contractors attended and closed out 5742 tickets for fly tipping costing the city council $428,124.
For the same period in 2024, contractors attended and closed out 3548 tickets, at a cost to the council of $313,122.
“While the $300,000 we’ve spent on cleaning up fly-tipping is less than last year, it’s still hundreds of thousands of dollars that could have gone towards maintaining, resurfacing and resealing roads around Christchurch and Banks Peninsula,” Guy said.
The Central and Riccarton Wards cost the city council $60,000 and $35,000 respectively since the start of the financial year.
Guy said streamlining the collection process and increasing the number of cameras around the city has helped bring down costs.
“One area that has had the biggest impact is how we have streamlined the way we attend callouts, collect and dispose of waste.
“We’ve also increased the number of cameras we have around Christchurch so we can investigate offenders.”
Guy said the cameras are mobile, have very clear day/night visibility, record sounds and are monitored 24 hours a day. The city council has been placing them in locations where dumping occurs frequently, and he said they have had a significant effect in many areas to change behaviours.
Costs have been steadily increasing over the last few years in line with the Government’s waste levy increasing from $10 a tonne in 2021 to $60.
Guy encouraged people to use the facilities already offered.
“The council provides fantastic red bin service, and the EcoDrop Transfer Station is open for any bigger loads.”
