Laurence and Julia Moulden: 56 Christian Road, Swanson, Auckland
Laurence Moulden is a project manager at Form Building and Developments. In 2022, dump trucks were illegally dumping development waste on the Mouldens’ property at 56 Christian Road, Swanson, in the Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area. During 2023’s Cyclone Gabrielle, the Mouldens’ illegal dumpsite slipped through their property onto the neighbour’s property at 82 O’Neills Road. We have been informed by neighbours that the slip killed mature native vegetation, including approximately 250-year old Kauri trees. The slip further destroyed a large area of native bush (designated a significant ecological area) on the Mouldens’ neighbour’s land that their neighbour had been been regenerating for the past 30 years. Original vegetation on the neighbour’s property was also destroyed by the slip, including trees of up to 200 years of age.
Council was contacted. Yet the illegal dumpsite remains on the Mouldens’ property as is, and the slip on their neighbour’s property has been left unremediated for over two and a half years. The Mouldens’ neighbour has had to resort to taking them to court himself to enforce remediation of his property. In the meantime, other neighbours have observed that the Mouldens’ illegal dumpsite continues to slip.
Friends of Swanson Foothills will be revisiting this case as ongoing court proceedings unfold and become public.
Lucky Lopesi and Georgia Gardner-Lopesi: 100 Christian Road, Swanson, Auckland
Friends of Swanson Foothills has been informed that yet another illegal dumpsite is operating in the Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area. Development waste has been observed being trucked from 16 Kātote Avenue, Swanson, a development site within the CDL Land development (formerly 7-11 Christian Road) into the Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area. The site is owned by JXZ Investment Limited, whose sole director and shareholder is Xujun Zhang.
The development waste was being moved by Affordable Drainage, which is owned and directed by Matthew and Claire Skellon. Affordable Drainage’s trucks operated at a regular clip of 10 truck movements an hour between the sites. The unequipped rural roads have become further degraded after already being damaged and potholed by previous dump trucks. Affordable Drainage trucks were crossing the centre line and causing danger to other motorists, who resorted to tooting the trucks in protest. They also left no margin for error for pedestrians such as schoolchildren and dog walkers.
The development waste was being illegally dumped at 100 Christian Road, Swanson, a property in the Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area owned by Lucky Lopesi and Georgia Gardner-Lopesi. Council has confirmed that: “There is no resource consent for the work…There is no consent to discharge sediment.” It has further confirmed that there is no resource consent for the earthworks occurring on the property. Council has calculated that approximately 4,800 m2 of earthworks have been undertaken at the site.
Concerned residents have repeatedly asked Council to take action. Council states that all parties have been notified to cease works. Council issued the Gardner-Lopesis with an abatement notice in 2023 requiring them to provide Council with a remediation action plan (RAP), and to remediate the site. However, no RAP was ever submitted to Council, and further illegal dumping of development waste occurred on the property in 2025. Council has issued more abatement notices in 2025, which state that, in Council’s opinion, the earthworks occurring at 100 Christian Road are an offence breaching the Resource Management Act. Council has now ordered the Gardner-Lopesis to submit a Detailed Site Investigation Report as a first measure. This Detailed Site Investigation Report must outline the quantity and quality of the soils and other fill materials dumped at the site, as well as any leachate discharging from them.
A resident has reported that previous illegal dumping has caused multiple slips. These slips have led to the destruction of bush and native trees being uprooted or buried under 3 to 4 metres of mud. The tangle of mud and trees has forced the Waimoko tributary to make a new path, which is still not running clear years later. Dumping has polluted and choked the protected Waimoko stream, which runs through a significant ecological area.
We have also been informed that illegal dumping at this site after Cyclone Gabrielle contributed to the red-stickering of a neighbouring home due to the “intolerable risk to life”. New Zealand taxpayers’ and ratepayers’ money was used for a Council buyout of this home due to the “direct threat” caused by the illegal dumping.
The same Affordable Drainage trucks have been seen dumping development waste from another development site within the CDL Land development onto a property at 780 Swanson Road.
Affordable Drainage
Affordable Drainage (owned and directed by Matthew and Claire Skellon) are removing development waste from a development site within the CDL Land development. It was illegally dumping this development waste at the Gardner-Lopesi property in the Waitākere Ranges heritage area.
After Council issued Affordable Drainage with the cease works notice for 100 Christian Road, it continued to move development waste from 16 Kātote Avenue to another dumpsite at 212 Amreins Road, Taupaki. The owners of this Taupaki property are Roy and Russell Wilson.
Another dump truck has also been observed dumping demolition waste at the Wilson property.
Auckland Council is currently investigating this site.
Amreins Road, Taupaki, Auckland
Locals have further informed Friends of Swanson Foothills that there are multiple dumpsites on Amreins Road.
One is vacant land between 44 and 84 Amreins Road owned by Glen Gordon and Alexia Martin.
Residents have observed 6 to 10 trucks per hour dumping at the site.
There is no traffic management plan. Residents have advised that trucks are stopped on both sides of the road waiting to get in. Trucks are also crossing the centre line and locals have had to take evasive action to avoid them.
The dumpsite is creating a huge amount of dust, and some of it is blowing across the road to 69 Amreins Road.
Locals have also observed that the road is damaged. They have informed us that the road is a mess as a result of trucks entering and exiting the site’s undeveloped accessway, which has tracked clay all over the road.
Erosion and sediment control is inadequate, and it is noted that the property slopes downhill to a bush area with potential waterway.
Council has informed Friends of Swanson Foothills that there is no consent to discharge for this property and that it is under investigation.
Another dumpsite is at 69 Amreins Road, which is owned by Nicole Rogers and Bosco Family Trustee Services Limited. Residents have observed that this property has been running a dumpsite since it was last sold, and that thousands of cubic metres of fill have been trucked in and dumped there. Residents also believe that there is a connection between 69 Amreins Road and the vacant lot between 44 and 84 Amreins Road directly opposite. They have observed the same digger working between sites. Residents have further advised that Council has issued an abatement notice in relation to 69 Amreins Road.
Yiming Chen
Yiming Chen, Kaifeng Sun and Yutong Wu: 74 Christian Road, Swanson, Auckland
Friends of Swanson Foothills has been informed of the following in relation to Yiming Chen’s 74 Christian Road illegal dumpsite:
In October 2024, Peter and Fiona Tugaga sold their 74 Christian Road property to developer Yiming Chen via Luminex Investment Limited. Settlement was deferred until April 2025. The property consists of 24 acres of mainly regenerating native bush. It is protected under the Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area Act 2008 as well as a number of Auckland Unitary Plan overlays, including a significant ecological area (SEA) overlay. The protected Waimoko stream runs through the property.
The Tugagas gave Yiming Chen early access to the property and had full awareness of subsequent activities onsite. Workers immediately began clearing native bush. During the clearance period, workers also jumped over the fence onto a neighbouring property and chopped down two large boundary trees. The affected neighbours called a meeting with the developers, and two of Yiming Chen’s associates, Kaifeng (Simon) Sun and Yutong (Rain) Wu, turned up. When asked who they worked for, they said NZ National Construction Limited. They assured the affected neighbours that no more of their trees would be cut down, nor would the boundary tree branches be stripped by the digger anymore. However, the stripping continued after the meeting.
Residents report that in early November 2024, old buildings, vehicles, corrugated iron tanks, concrete building foundations, broken concrete and glass, treated timber fence posts, metal, wire, old plastic buckets, pots and other containers, and also old, broken fibre cement board that appeared to be asbestos-containing material, were pushed by a digger into a slip in the SEA opened up by Cyclone Gabrielle. The digger covered over this waste with felled vegetation and contaminated fill.
Unmarked white dump trucks then began turning up to the property and dumping demolition and development waste in the cleared area. A marked truck from Kaviz Trucking Company as well as unmarked trucks from Reliance Civil and Zhonghe Civil also illegally dumped at the site. Friends of Swanson Foothills has been informed that waste included contaminated fill, large concrete slabs, plasterboard, plastic, metal, and treated timber.
Council was called. When a dump truck filled with old tyres, bedding, plastic tubing, styrofoam, corrugated iron, and general rubbish drove into the site, neighbours decided to sit at the end of the driveway outside of the site to stop access by any more dump trucks.
After neighbours began stopping truck access, Kaifeng Sun drove at some of them in a threatening manner.
Another associate threw concrete through a neighbour’s window. Residents inform Friends of Swanson Foothills that glass was heard being smashed and a car was then seen accelerating away from the neighbour’s property in the early hours. This car has been seen at Yutong Wu’s Companies Office address, and Ms Wu has also been seen driving it.
Other associates deliberately damaged the boundary fences on either side of 74 Christian Road.
Kaifeng Sun drove a ute at speed at one of the neighbours in his ute and rammed the neighbour off the road into a ditch. His associates drove a 16-tonne digger from the site onto the road, chasing a neighbour down the road and up their driveway. Kaifeng Sun and the digger driver were arrested.
Auckland Transport was informed several times about Yiming Chen’s associate driving a 16-tonne digger with metal tracks illegally down Christian Road, creating potholes. Auckland Transport was not interested in pursuing costs from Mr Chen. Instead, it socialised the costs of Yiming Chen’s illegal activities by using Auckland ratepayers’ money to repair the road damage.
A truck driver who was illegally dumping at the site chased neighbours in their car in his dump truck and tried to ram them several times.
Dump trucks were followed from the illegal dumpsite to Yuntao Cai’s Precise on Fred Taylor, Westgate development; Yuguang (Peter) Sun’s development site at 40 Jillian Drive, Rānui; Heqin and Xiaoyun Qiu’s development site at 9 Crows Road, Swanson; and a development site at 64 Glengarry Road, Glen Eden.
Council issued abatement notices and infringement fines. But the illegal dumping continued. Council was repeatedly asked about the measures it could take to stop the dumping immediately. Responses ranged from no reply to “I don’t know.”
In desperation, affected neighbours turned to the Waitākere Ranges Protection Society (WRPS). WRPS immediately came to view the site and then tirelessly and in their spare time, on a voluntary basis, put together a case, which was quickly filed in the Environment Court in February 2025. At the same time, WRPS invited Council to join. Council spent time filing its own application for an interim enforcement order.
WRPS then had to enter into negotiations with Council regarding the terms of substantive enforcement orders.
In September 2025, the Environment Court granted the enforcement orders against Yiming Chen and Luminex Investment Limited to clean up the illegal dumpsite and replant the SEA.
Stuff has reported on the 74 Christian Road illegal dumpsite here.
Yiming Chen: 27A Brandon Road, Glen Eden, Auckland
Mr Chen owned 27A Brandon Road, a Glen Eden development site. Friends of Swanson Foothills has been informed of the following activities at the site:
Mr Chen and associates demolished and removed an old house (including asbestos) from the site, but there was no evidence of proper management of asbestos removal and disposal. One of the unmarked dump trucks that was previously seen at the Waitākere Ranges foothills illegal dumpsite was observed taking this demolition and development waste away from the Glen Eden site.
Workers removed trees and caused property damage to neighbours, including to neighbouring fences, letterboxes, a clothesline, and overhead internet lines.
A deal was struck with the landlord of a neighbouring property without consultation with tenants, whereby workers ripped down their fence, fully exposing the tenants to the development site without fencing or retaining walls. Diggers performed greater than 3-metre deep excavations frighteningly close to the tenants’ door, and workers then also began walking and working on the neighbouring property, in breach of the tenants’ quiet enjoyment of their premises under the Residential Tenancies Act.
Council knows that the Environment Court has ordered Mr Chen to cease his illegal dumpsite operations, and that pollution was also happening at another of his development sites in Unsworth Heights. Yet Council has done little to stop the earthworks and excavations that were occurring at his Glen Eden site without temporary fencing or erosion and sediment controls in place. Contaminants, such as hydrocarbon, were entering the stormwater system. Sediment and debris have blocked stormwater grating, leading to potential stormwater issues at a neighbouring property. Uncontrolled polystyrene onsite may also have blocked drains and polluted waterways. Bags of household rubbish that were left littering the site have since been buried onsite.
Despite Council’s knowledge of excessive noise, dust and vibrations at Mr Chen’s Unsworth Heights site, it has done little to stop similar noise, dust and vibration issues at the Glen Eden site.
Residents have reported that driveways and roadsides are being blocked by workers’ vehicles.
Multiple complaints have been made to Council but little action has been taken to stop the unlawful activities onsite, despite Mr Chen already being known to Council as an environmental offender.
BNZ was the mortgagee for this Glen Eden site. Friends of Swanson Foothills and concerned Glen Eden residents filed a formal complaint to BNZ regarding its funding of Mr Chen’s site that is harming the environment and neighbouring community. The BNZ mortgage was discharged the day after the complaint was made. On the same day as the discharge of the BNZ mortgage, the property was transferred to one of Mr Chen’s associates, Zhihui Han’s, companies, Soil2Gold Limited.
Stuff has reported on the Glen Eden site here.
Since ownership of the site has been transferred to Zhihui Han’s company, Soil2Gold, residents report that neighbouring fences have been destroyed and workers’ vehicles have been blocking neighbouring residents’ driveway access all day.
Chen has claimed to Stuff that he has not received any abatement or infringement notices for the Glen Eden site. Yet Council has issued him with three infringement fines and one abatement notice. It is unknown whether he has paid the infringement fines. Bingbing Pan was also issued an abatement notice in relation to the Glen Eden site.
Yiming Chen: 145 Albany Highway, Unsworth Heights, Auckland
Mr Chen’s company, Sequoia Development Limited, owns 145 Albany Highway, a development site at Unsworth Heights. Neighbouring residents have witnessed numerous reckless activities here, and have informed Friends of Swanson Foothills of the following:
Unapproved winter earthworks have been carried out at this very steep site, leading to vehicles becoming stuck onsite. Workers’ attempted solutions included pulling out heavy vehicles with two smaller vehicles (which failed). They have since pushed vehicles out using their digger.
Instead of appropriate machinery, workers used diggers to pull logs off trucks, with some workers standing dangerously close as the logs crashed off the truck. The impact of the unloading logs hitting the ground caused significant vibrations to neighbouring properties.
Residents have also seen a tipped over digger at the site:
Residents have reported site dust blowing onto neighbouring properties, covering their houses, windows, decks, and vehicles. Dust has killed a neighbouring resident’s vege garden and covered their outdoor furniture. Neighbours who suffer from respiratory issues such as asthma have kept their windows closed at all times to stop dust from migrating into their homes. Those leaving their windows open have risked their indoor spaces becoming covered in dust.
Shade cloth that workers attached to a neighbouring fence has been pulling the fence down. Mr Chen’s company has been directed to pay for this neighbour’s house wash by the Disputes Tribunal.
Residents have recorded the exceeding of noise level limits on a regular basis, which is particularly stressful for families with young children. They have also observed that vibrations have caused neighbouring houses, doors, and mirrors to shake, and for cups, ornaments, and household items to fall off shelves. They have seen cracks and small gaps in walls appear in their neighbouring houses since vibrations from site works began.
Due to the ongoing noise and vibrations, one resident who was working from home was forced to rent an office and car park in order to continue working.
Contaminated runoff was flowing into stormwater drains and sediment was accumulating at cesspits. A gas main was damaged, leading to a gas leak and an emergency callout and repair.
Residents have also experienced trucks and other large construction vehicles obstructing driveways and parking at road entrances, making it difficult for them to enter or leave their street. Hazardous loading and offloading on a main road has been blocking lanes and lines of sight.
According to neighbours, the site was not properly fenced and residents and children were wandering onsite after hours. Workers have left dangerous tools out, for example, a 2-year old stood on and almost picked up a blade left in a neighbour’s driveway.
Residents have noted that workers often operates outside of consented hours, sometimes starting at 6am and sometimes finishing at 9.30pm. Residents also state that workers have been breaching their consent by working on public holidays.
Multiple complaints have been made to Council but minimal action has been taken to stop the unlawful activities onsite, despite Mr Chen already being known to Council as an environmental offender.
Sunday Star-Times has reported on the Unsworth Heights site here.
More stories coming soon…
