Members of the Wānaka Community Board (WCB) are frustrated that insufficient action by the council has led to more silt flowing into Bullock Creek and Lake Wānaka.

WCB chair Barry Bruce first noticed truck loads of landfill being dumped on council reserve on the upper part of Youghal Street below the Wānaka Golf Course on March 14, and alerted Queenstown Lakes District (QLDC) staff.

QLDC regulatory manager Anthony Hall told the Wānaka App that staff asked the person responsible to install silt mitigation measures while council staff investigated the situation. 

However, what appeared to be a line of hay or straw bales beside the landfill was no match for the rainfall on Monday evening (April 12), and some of the dirt flowed down Youghal Street and into Bullock Creek.

In February this year, trucks started to ferry fill to the road reserve site on Youghal Street.

“It’s a shame more stringent methods weren’t put in place earlier on,” WCB member Chris Hadfield said.

“This is not the first time that Bullock Creek has been affected by someone doing some kind of development.”

Wānaka resident Graham Dickson, who has a diploma in Town and Country Planning, told the Wānaka App he was surprised that someone could effectively spend months filling a watercourse less than a kilometre from the council office.

“We badly need more council staff on the ground in Wānaka,” he said.

Hay bales and a low fence were insufficient to restrain the overflowing dirt during heavy rain.

Graham wrote to QLDC chief executive Mike Theelen a month ago advising him of the potential risk from the illegal landfill in the water course.

“The effect of this work is that the water course which previously took the run off from the golf course is no longer available and the only flow path available is now down the roadway where it will cause major problems, road blockage, erosion and fouling of Bullock Creek. Another Bullock Creek fiasco?” he wrote.

The run-off of silt into Bullock Creek on Monday will be part of the council investigation, Anthony said.

“As such it is not appropriate for council to make any further public statement while this is underway, other than to say that we will require the individual to implement further mitigation measures,” he said.

PHOTOS: Wānaka App