If you have the energy to illegally dump rubbish into the Whitianga Estuary then you have enough energy to drive it to the town's dump.

That's the belief of local Lynette Hendrikse who discovered the remains of an old chimney, a car tyre, and other materials dumped in the estuary earlier this week.

The remnants of an old chimney discovered in the Whitianga Estuary earlier this week. Photos: Lynette Hendrikse

Lynette says she was disgusted to discover the rubbish on the Robinson Rd side of the estuary and cannot fathom why someone would think it would be okay.

'We are a town that relies on tourism and this looks absolutely terrible,” says Lynette. 'We're also a town in the part of the country where environmentalism is rife.

'When you see this kind of industrialisation lying in an estuary, which is an integral part of our environment, how on earth could you be okay with that?”

Lynette says this is not the first time she has seen rubbish dumped into the estuary and has decided to take action.

Two years ago when she first moved to Whitianga she was kayaking on the estuary with her family when she made a similar discovery.

'Across the estuary someone had dumped old windows and paint buckets and it looked absolutely disgusting.

'Same again, if you have the energy to boat your crap across the estuary, why can't you take it to the dump?”

Waikato Regional Council investigations and incident response team leader Derek Hartley says any unlawful dumping of material is concerning on a visual and environmental level.

From a visual perspective, dumped rubbish spoilt one of the peninsula's most beautiful places, he says.

'It also creates potential hazards and contamination of coastal areas and waterways,” says Derek.

'We strongly urge people to dispose of such material lawfully and ask the public to provide us or the Thames Coromandel District Council with any information that can help track down offenders.”

Derek says the number of such incidents is relatively low around the region, both in coastal and fresh water areas.

But any incident can have potentially very serious consequences in terms of public safety and also in terms of spoiling the natural environment.

'Our incident response staff from the regional council will look into the dumping identified in these photos.

'If anyone has any information the regional council has a 24 hour freephone line to report incidents to us.”

If you have any information about the rubbish discovered in the Whitianga Estuary this week or witness any cases of illegal dumping call the WRC incident response team on 0800 800 401.