Those disposing of waste which blocks Queenstown Lakes District Council wastewater pumps could soon face legal action and be ordered to pay the unblocking cost.
At the council's infrastructure services committee meeting last week councillor Jude Battson voiced concern about the blockages and was assured by 3 Waters manager Gerry Essenberg a new bylaw would make it easier to ''go back to the perpetrator''.
The latest infrastructure services monitoring report said ''a number of pump blockages and sewer overflows have occurred recently from building debris making its way into the sewers''.
Mr Essenberg said the council was ''slowly working away'' at a solid trade waste bylaw.
At present the council had to rely on the Local Government Act and Resource Management Act and without a bylaw it was difficult to charge perpetrators, even if offending waste could be tracked to a specific building site or business, he said.
''Occasionally we find out where the stuff is from,'' Mr Essenberg said.
''A lot of councils'' would have a solid trade waste bylaw, he said.
''If we can track down whoever caused the blockage, they will be charged for the full amount,'' he said.
A new pump on Frankton Beach cost over $700 to unblock, the councillors at the committee meeting heard.
