Media Release
22 July 2021
11:45 hours
More help for the clean up
The Buller District Council has made the Westport transfer station free of charge to dispose of flood damaged goods only until Saturday. This is to help residence from the flood-affected areas.
In addition, Buller District Council contractors, supported by NZ Defence Force staff are operating a kerbside collection service to pick up household waste from flood damaged houses in Westport and Carter’s Beach.
This includes flood damaged household goods: white ware, furniture, carpets, clothing, underlay, curtains and flood-damaged building material from Thursday 22 July to Saturday 24 July, 8am – 4pm.
Next week there will be another sweep of Westport and Carters Beach to pick up any flood-related waste that has not been removed this week.
Buller District Mayor Jamie Cleine says “Both the kerbside collection and the transfer station are free of charge which will mean that rubbish can be cleared from flood-affected areas in a timely way.
“I realise that clearing flood damaged items from homes is a distressing job and we want to support everyone who is in this position to be able to take their items to the transfer station without incurring costs.”
If you need help moving flood related household waste, please contact the Buller Emergency Operations Centre on 03 789 799 and they will dispatch volunteers to give you a hand.
“Our priority is to get people back into their homes as soon as possible and we thank all the volunteers and agencies who are helping with the clean-up that will work towards this goal.
“I ask that everyone is considerate of people who have to deal with this dreadful task of disposing of personal items from their damaged homes. Please only use the transfer station if you have flood-damaged items to dispose of.
“To help our kerbside collectors please sort items into piles of types of rubbish and place them on the berm, leave the road and drains clear, and enough space to use the footpath.”
Ring 03 789 799 if you need help shifting items out to the berm.
If you are unsure weather any items are hazardous, ring 03 789 7999 and Fire & Emergency Service staff will assess and remove the waste safely.
If you live outside the collection zones, you can drop off your flood-related waste for free at the Transfer Station 9am – 4pm.
If you live outside the zones and need a hand with bringing your waste to the transfer station ring
03 789 7999 and our amazing volunteers will help.
Mayor Jamie Cleine says “Our waste management team at the EOC has been working hard to get this crucial operation underway efficiently and quickly involving many agencies and service providers including BDC, SmartEnvironmental Ltd, Westreef Services, New Zealand Defence Force, and our landfill providers.
ENDS
Media contacts
EOC Public Information Management Officer
027 246 2588
Key information when returning into your flood affected house
Cleaning up after a flood
Food safety after a flood
Insurance
Wellbeing
Collection Zone maps