Christchurch's dumped rubbish costs starting to drop
Christchurch City Council Newsline: 20th January 2025
The cost and amount of on street fly tipping in Christchurch is starting to come down.
In the 2023-24 financial year Christchurch City Council spent just over $1 million collecting illegally dumped rubbish from roadsides.
“Our stats are showing we’re getting back on the right track with a 38 percent reduction in service requests coming through and a 27 percent reduction in costs to ratepayers from the start of the financial year until the beginning of December,” City Streets Maintenance Manager Steve Guy said.
From 1st July to 30th November 2023 contractors attended and closed out 5,742 tickets for fly tipping costing Council $428,124.
For the same period in 2024, contractors attended and closed out 3,548 tickets, at a cost to Council of $313,122.
“One area that has had the biggest impact is how we have streamlined the way we attend callouts, collect and dispose of waste,” Mr Guy said.
“We’ve also increased the number of cameras we have around Christchurch so we can investigate offenders.”
Mr Guy said the cameras are mobile, have very clear day/night visibility, record sounds and are monitored 24hrs a day. We have been placing them in locations where dumping has been occurring frequently, and they have had a significant effect in many areas to change behaviours.
“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,” he said.
The Central and Riccarton Wards have also cost the Council $60,000 and $35,000 respectively since the start of the financial year.
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.
“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,” Mr Guy said.
The best thing people can do is use the facilities already offered.
“The Council provides fantastic red bin service, and the EcoDrop Transfer Station is open for any bigger loads.”