The Swanson Foothills lead into the Waitākere Ranges’ core from the northeast. They provide a buffer between the ecological pressures of urban Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and the forested ranges and coast.

The Swanson Foothills are beloved but beleaguered.

After years of the community fending off further subdivision, others are now looking to make money off the land in different ways.

One way is by West Auckland developers using the whenua as an illegal dumpsite for their demolition and development waste. 

These developers are trucking old house demolition debris (including asbestos), and contaminated fill, which they remove in order to level out their sites for development, and dumping it all in the Waitākere Ranges heritage area. This land is protected under the Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area Act 2008 and the Auckland Unitary Plan.

Sometimes, regenerating native forest is cleared to make way for an illegal dumpsite. The dumpsites can become landslides that kill old-growth native trees and poison significant ecological areas and waterways.

In the Swanson Foothills, the illegal dumpsites feed into the Waimoko stream, polluting and choking the stream and devastating streamlife. Blockages of the Waimoko stream helped cause the 2023 flooding of Rānui. Contaminants, debris and waste from the Waimoko stream may flow into the Waitematā Harbour and Hauraki Gulf.

Environmental criminals are secretly trashing Nature for profit and getting away with it.

Now that we know, it’s time to do something about it.