Rubbish dumping along Tasman's river berms has come under fire as council officers use CCTV to try and catch the offenders.
A council officer labelled the dumping as "slovenly", with ratepayers bearing the cost for the clean-up.
"It's just such terrible behaviour," said Rob Smith, Tasman District Council's environmental information manager.
While the Waimea River has seen the bulk of recent dumping, trash has also had to be recently collected from the Lower Motueka River as well.
A range of material has been dumped, including mattresses, carcasses, furniture, treated timber, tyres, glass, flax, and household waste – some of which has also been burnt in bonfires on the riverbed.
It also appears that contractors are dumping fill and waste with piles of material far larger than a typical trailer load showing up on the river berm.
Dumping waste on the river berm, particularly treated and contaminated waste, can allow pollutants to enter the river system above an ecologically important estuary.
"Some people think it's okay to just back their ute up and biff it. It's disgusting," Smith said.
"We will try and catch them, there are cameras around there, and we will do something about it."
Staff in the council's waste management and compliance teams are using CCTV cameras to try and identify the offenders.
"The ratepayer pays for this which is just not fair," Smith said. "We all know how to behave properly and have respect, so it is unfortunate that this behaviour is not called out by those who know it is happening."
The council blocked access to some dry beaches with rocks placed in strategic locations in December "with some success".
Council communications officer Tim O'Connell said the recent dumpings are a continuation of poor behaviour by some residents.
Reports of fly-tipping and dumping occur at least once a month.
"It's blatant disregard for the natural state of the berm," he said. "It shouldn't happen at all."
It appears that some dumpers travel a fair distance to offload the rubbish at the Waimea River, with the council having found trashed mail linked to an address in the northern Nelson suburb of Atawhai.
"I'm not sure if people are driving all the way out. I appreciate the effort, but it's still unacceptable."
O'Connell said that the council was looking at more CCTV options, but currently the council was still relying on "eagle-eyed members of the public".
"But just given that people still feel that it's absolutely fine to dump it wherever they feel, we may need to look at other methods, but nothing's been nailed down as yet."
He added the costs of cleaning up fly-tipping just over the past year "would go into the thousands".
"That's money that we shouldn't be spending, it should be going to more worthwhile things, for the betterment of the community."
Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
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