A Hawke's Bay man is fed up with growing piles of illegally dumped rubbish off State Highway 2 in Mōrere.
The piles include old concrete, what appears to be timber and other building materials from a house, alcohol bottles and household waste. Down a bank above the Nuhaka River, old TVs and discarded whiteware can be also seen amongst the bushes.
Richard Ewels has lived in the area for 10 years and says the gravel area off the side of the highway has been a popular dumping ground for some time.
Almost three years ago Ewels caught two Chorus workers dumping rubbish in the bush off the highway.
Ewels said he does his best to clean up the roadside rubbish himself, but he cannot tackle the piles off the road.
But it appears the authorities themselves are struggling to keep on top of the clean-up in the gravel area off the highway.
Ewels messaged Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) – which is responsible for rubbish collection on and alongside state highways – over a week ago on April 27, saying the area was an "absolute mess".
The NZTA came back and said the issue may be passed on to a contractor.
But Ewels messaged again on Thursday, saying the problem had got "exponentially worse", largely thanks to the massive pile of dumped timber, which can be seen from the highway due to its size. The other piles of rubbish are also still there.
"The place now looks like a full-on tip," Ewels wrote. "Absolutely disgusted with the lack of any meaningful action."
"Why has it been left so long?" Ewels wondered to 1News.
An email from an NZTA contractor, Higgins, seen by 1News, said it had applied to the agency for funding to try and find a remedy for the area.
"We cannot simply clean this up with our cyclic crew truck that maintains the highway network for litter."
Ewels reckons most of the illegal dumping could be stopped by putting up gates across the two access points to the gravel area, signage and security cameras.
He called it a "no brainer".
Jaclyn Hankin, NZTA's Central North Island regional manager for maintenance and operations, said it's aware of the fly tipping near Mōrere Hot Springs and hopes to have it cleared by the end of next week.
Hankin said it is not a small job and multiple truck loads will likely be required to clear it.
"Waka Kotahi are also investigating solutions to prevent fly tipping from this area in the future through restricting access."
Hankin said the Omicron outbreak was impacting Higgins, which was prioritising addressing potholes, surface damage and signs and markings over rubbish.
Areas of "highest need" and those which were more urban were being looked at for rubbish collection first.
Hankin also said it is disappointing people continue to illegally dump household and commercial rubbish on the sides of the country's state highways.
"Not only is it an eyesore, but it can be dangerous for road users and road workers, and the clean-up diverts time and funding from other essential road maintenance activities.
"The cost for clean-up and disposal for some sites can stretch into the thousands of dollars, considerably more than it would cost someone to take it directly to their local landfill."
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