My Account
Rubbish bags and overflowing recycling bins are a permanent feature at Omaha over summer.
Residents of Omaha are increasingly finding themselves surrounded by rubbish during summer when holidaymakers swell the population of the beachside community.
Omaha Beach Community (OBC) chair Peter Hooper persuaded Auckland Council and Northland waste to add additional services over Christmas, but could not get Council to provide a permanent solution. Council Waste Solutions general manager Ian Stupple says they will not provide weekly recycling collections during peak periods, as suggested by some residents.
“To do so would add cost to all ratepayers,” Mr Stupple says.
Rodney Councillor Greg Sayers attended a meeting with Mr Hooper and Mr Supple on January 17. Cr Sayers said the problem needed a permanent solution, as the holiday population swelled from around 600 to over 6000.
“This problem is widespread across many other holiday destinations in Rodney,” Cr Sayers says.
Mr Hooper says the OBC is trialling larger 360-litre recycling bins at the request of Council, but he did not believe this would solve the problem.
“We are now working with private providers to try to implement our own solution,” Mr Hooper says.
Rubbish bags are collected by Northland Waste, but constantly hang from nails on light-poles throughout the southern end, where the median house price is almost $1.5 million.
Northland waste manager Ray Lambert says Omaha is the only area where they run twice weekly collections from Christmas through to Waitangi day.
“We understand the problem and run additional services, but the bags appear again as soon as the truck leaves,” Mr Lambert says.
The practice of hanging rubbish bags from posts was initiated to prevent seagulls ripping them apart and spreading refuse. One resident who didn’t want to be named says he is sick of people leaving rubbish hanging outside his property for days on end.
“It’s unsafe, unsanitary and bloody rude! Surely it’s a criminal offence to dump garbage outside somebody else’s house.”
Council bylaws state that bags must be left out for collection between 7pm on the day before collection, and 7am on the morning of collection. All bags must be placed directly adjacent to the property they have come from.
Some Omaha residents have removed nails to prevent the continual dumping of rubbish, which has caused friction between neighbours. Mr Stupple says Council is aware of the problem.
“There have been complaints and issues raised about the amount of litter coming from refuse bags. We are assessing if any operators are breaching Council’s Solid Waste bylaw or their licensing conditions regarding how waste is left on footpaths and the effectiveness of their collections.”
Mr Lambert says Northland Waste is working with the OBC to find a suitable solution.
