Residents of the Wellington suburb of Tawa are fed up with the "absolutely terrible" stench wafting from its landfill.
It comes after Wellington Regional Council issued a $1000 fine to Porirua City Council which owns the Spicer Landfill for the unauthorised discharge of offensive and objectionable odour.
Tawa resident Phillip Doomen loves living in the suburb and has been for the past 35 years. But over the last seven years, he and other residents have been battling the local council over the "delightful combination" of sewage sludge and rubbish.
Doomen told AM while he was watching TV last night when a neighbour informed him of "a real stinker".
"[The neighbour] contacted us on Facebook and said, 'Poo it really stinks of poo out there'."
So Doomen went to sniff it out for himself and said: "It was a real stinker, the council uses a scale of one to six, and it was a six. It was absolutely rank".
"I would describe it as a very strong hint of poo on the nose, but it's a combination of rotten rubbish."
Doomen said the stench comes and goes, and mostly wafts over in the mornings and evenings when dirt is being put over the sludge of sewage and rubbish overnight and then removed in the morning.
"I think that's what causes the problem in the morning and then in the late evening as they are working to cover and uncover it."
The Tawa resident said the sewage sludge comes from the sewerage treatment in the neighbouring suburb of Tītahi Bay and is then mixed in with the day's rubbish at the Spicer Landfill.
"So they are basically stirring it in with what's being dumped at the dump."
Doomen said the $1000 fine is "a complete joke".
"They (Porirua City Council) must be laughing at the infringement."
Doomen understands over the course of seven years the council has been fined twice.
"Two lots of $1000 is just ridiculous."
Watch the full interview above.
