A Hamilton business owner has been convicted of illegal dumping of a trailer load of rubbish under a Frankton overbridge earlier this year
On 12 January 2023, a person was caught on CCTV dumping a trailer load of rubbish under the Massey Hall Overbridge in Frankton. Council refers to this activity as illegal dumping.
Contents containing a name and address was found among the dumped rubbish and helped identify the person responsible.
Once the person was identified, Hamilton City Council started proceedings under the Litter Act 1979, which the identified person defended.
On 17 November, the case was heard before a Community Magistrate. The person was charged with depositing litter in a public place and fined $604, including court costs and Council’s clean-up costs.
“This person chose to do the illegal dumping under cover of darkness meaning they knew what they was doing was wrong – but chose to do it anyway,” says Tania Hermann, Council’s Sustainable Resource Recovery Unit Director who was pleased with the outcome.
“This resident had access to a trailer and was 700m away from the Resource Recovery Centre where they could have paid to dispose of the rubbish,” said Hermann.
“Cleaning up illegal dumping is a costly exercise, which unfortunately falls on ratepayers. Identifying people not only makes them accountable, but also makes them financially responsible – and rightly so, ” Hermann added.
From July 2022 to July 2023, the collection of illegal dumping across Hamilton cost ratepayers over $120,000.
