Justine Ragg, of Brighton, owns 12ha along the edge of the estuary.
She said she was ‘‘very concerned’’ about the state of the waterway.
She had raised her concerns with both the Dunedin City Council (DCC) and the Otago Regional Council (ORC), and two years ago, ‘‘numerous’’ staff from both councils had inspected the property at her request, Dr Ragg said.
‘‘I, too, have numerous photos of the rubbish in the estuary and of the plastic pollution that accumulates along the shore of my property.’’
The regional council said it was unaware of the mess.
The city council said it did not know where the contamination came from — but it was not the nearby Green Island landfill.
‘‘It is nevertheless incredibly disappointing to see materials that could have been recycled or disposed of properly turning up in the Kaikorai Stream and Estuary,’’ the council said a few weeks ago.
Dr Ragg said there were ‘‘many staff in both the DCC and ORC’’ that were very aware of the rubbish.
‘‘I was really disappointed to read in the article that the ORC were claiming that they didn’t know about the rubbish in the estuary, because they’ve had walkabouts on my property and I’ve pointed out the rubbish in the estuary and my daughter gave a presentation at the [Smooth Hill] landfill hearings [in 2022] and she put up photos and slides of some of the rubbish.’’
Dr Ragg said she tried to speak at the Green Island landfill hearing earlier this month but was told she had missed the deadline for submissions.
In 2023, in an email, she begged the regional council to open up the estuary mouth to allow her property to drain — but after weeks of being underwater, an estimated 90% of the plant life there had died.
There had been no visible improvement in the condition of the waterway since.
‘‘All the tyres are still here, the road cones are still here, there’s all sorts of rubbish down here along the shoreline.
‘‘There has been no attempt to pick up any of it that I’ve seen.
‘‘No-one’s asked for access through my property.
‘‘I’ve seen no improvement.’’
‘‘I haven’t seen any management of the estuary, really.
‘‘I’m sorry, I haven’t.
‘‘I know that they monitor the water levels down near the bridge.
‘‘There’s a gauge there, and that is what they use to determine whether to open the mouth or not.
‘‘I’ve seen staff down there looking at that gauge, but apart from that, I’ve seen no other management of the estuary.’’
This week, ORC compliance manager Carlo Bell confirmed regional council staff had investigated the matter since the ODT report.
‘‘There appears to be a reasonably significant quantity of large items visible in the estuary including tyres,’’ Mr Bell said.
It was unknown how long the rubbish had been in the waterway, he said.
It was unknown where it came from and it was unknown whether the council would clean it up as it was ‘‘still working through the details’’.
ORC science and resilience general manager Tom Dyer said the flooding that had happened on the property was ‘‘some time ago’’.
‘‘We check the mouth of the Kaikorai (and a number of other estuaries) roughly every fortnight.
‘‘If the mouth is closed, we monitor the effects of any closure, such as water level.
‘‘If effects on property or infrastructure become apparent, we will carry out a mouth opening.’’
DCC waste and environmental services group manager Chris Henderson said yesterday it was unlikely, but some of rubbish might have come from the nearby Green Island landfill.
He reiterated the council’s disappointment in seeing materials that could have been recycled or disposed of properly turning up in the waterway.
‘‘We can’t be sure where these items have come from, but we’re very confident it is not from the Green Island landfill.
‘‘The landfill is a well-managed facility designed to prevent waste from polluting the environment.
‘‘While it is possible some small items of rubbish (but not road cones or tyres) may be blown from the Green Island landfill into the surrounding area during high winds, we have litter fences in place to prevent this as much as possible.’’
