{"id":255572,"date":"2026-01-28T08:21:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T08:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/255572\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T08:21:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T08:21:11","slug":"outrage-over-illegal-dumping-at-auckland-cemetery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/255572\/","title":{"rendered":"Outrage over illegal dumping at Auckland cemetery"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Illegal<\/p>\n

\nIllegal dumping at the \u014ct\u0101huhu Cemetery over the weekend.
\nPhoto: LDR\/SUPPLIED\n<\/p>\n

A pile of household rubbish dumped at a cemetery in south Auckland has left residents upset and disgusted.<\/p>\n

It is believed the rubbish, including a doll house, soft toys and empty boxes, were dumped at the \u014ct\u0101huhu Cemetery over the weekend.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

A resident who came across the rubbish on Tuesday morning said he was shocked to see such disrespect at a sacred place.<\/p>\n

“No one wants to see rubbish being dumped at a place where their loved ones rest,” he said.<\/p>\n

He posted it on the community’s Facebook page, where many members expressed their disgust and disappointment at the illegal dumping.<\/p>\n

His colleague quickly reported it to council but the rubbish was still there on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

He said it was the first time he’d seem illegal dumping at the cemetery.<\/p>\n

“It’s just appalling, I was angry, frustrated … it’s an old cemetery and it holds a lot of loved ones for the \u014ct\u0101huhu community.”<\/p>\n

\"Illegal<\/p>\n

\nRubbish including a doll house and empty boxes was dumped at the cemetery over the weekend.
\nPhoto: LDR\/SUPPLIED\n<\/p>\n

Tracey Mata’afa, who has lived in the area for almost three years, said she was disgusted with the illegal dumping in the area.<\/p>\n

“They usually dump rubbish … beds, trolleys … in the stream nearby but this is the first I’ve seen it in the cemetery itself,” Mata’afa said.<\/p>\n

“It’s so sad, there are people resting there. It makes me want to cry because I know I wouldn’t want that for my loved one.”<\/p>\n

According to council, if person or persons are caught illegally dumping rubbish, they could be fined of up to $400, or taken to court.<\/p>\n

John Tautua’a said he was surprised that it still hadn’t been collected.<\/p>\n

“I saw it o Sunday when I went to see my Nanna.”<\/p>\n

Amy Bryan said her dad was buried at the \u014ct\u0101huhu Cemetery and was saddened by what she saw.<\/p>\n

“What’s wrong with these people?”<\/p>\n

\"\u014ct\u0101huhu<\/p>\n

\n\u014ct\u0101huhu Cemetery where rubbish was dumped illegally.
\nPhoto: LDR\/SUPPLIED\n<\/p>\n

Manukau ward councillor Alf Filipaina said<\/p>\n

“There’s one word I would use to describe this and its disgusting. That is exactly what these people are, they are disgusting,” Filipaina said.<\/p>\n

“Illegal dumping in general is disgusting but to dump rubbish at a cemetery, where we put our loved ones to rest .. it’s just disgusting and I hope they get caught.”<\/p>\n

He said people had ways of disposing their rubbish and a quick search on council website could come up with results on where to go.<\/p>\n

“Do what everybody else does and dispose of rubbish the right way. I’m just shocked that people would do something like this.”<\/p>\n

Auckland Council has been approached for a comment.<\/p>\n

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Illegal dumping at the \u014ct\u0101huhu Cemetery over the weekend. Photo: LDR\/SUPPLIED A pile of household rubbish dumped at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[48,47,273,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45,147],"class_list":["post-255572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-audio","tag-current-affairs","tag-environment","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-podcasts","tag-public-radio","tag-radio-new-zealand","tag-rnz","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}