The Southland District Council says the illegal dumping of trash on the outskirts of towns and rivers is on the rise.

The escalating problem, known as fly tipping, has coincided with a 15% increase in transfer station fees.

The council’s strategic water and waste manager Mike Bourke said reports of an increase in fly tipping had come from community boards and informally from members of the public.

“It’s a district wide issue. The reports we receive involve fly tipping on the outskirts of towns, gravel roads and riverbanks.”

The trash included household rubbish, mattresses, whiteware, animal carcases, tyres and electronics.

Bourke said he believed the practice had increased due to people’s dissatisfaction with the increase in transfer station fees, especially when combined with the overall cost of living increases.

In July transfer station fees in the district increased by an average of 15% due to increased landfill, recycling and operational costs, he said.

District mayor Rob Scott said the government levy on waste sent to landfills was increasing from $10 to $60 a tonne between 2021 and 2024, which was the core reason the tip fees had increased.

More people were definitely illegally dumping their rubbish beside roads and rivers in the district, he said.

People could think they were saving money by doing so, but the council picked up the trash, so it ended up costing ratepayers more.

”The cost to the environment and the cost to the ratepayer goes up, the more it’s being dumped. Dumping rubbish beside roads and rivers isn’t the answer.”

Bourke said the culprits had a disregard for the environment, and asked people to report any instances of the dumping. Fines could be issued under the Litter Act.

Paul Evans, an Environment Southland councillor who regularly picked up rubbish on the roadside and elsewhere in the Fiordland area, said the amount thrown out was an increasing problem, but he had seen little evidence of fly tipping.

“It’s more just biffing it out the window.”