The toilet paper clue that helped lead to a conviction

Apr 27, 2024

The half-roll of toilet paper on top of the toilet was a clue.

So were the dripping taps, the wet bath mat and the washing machine filled with washing.

Council officers searching Dean Brown’s property under a court-issued search warrant knew then that the Hastings man was using his septic tank. The tank had the known risk of contaminating the unconfined aquifer, from which Hastings and the surrounding area draws its water.

The goings-on of Brown and his septic tanks have worried Hawke’s Bay Regional Council for years, and are the subject of a recent court decision.

The council’s concern rests in the fact that his property lies above an unconfined section of the Heretaunga aquifer, which supplies water to Hastings and Napier, and is upstream of some drinking water wells.

There are two houses on Brown’s section, each with their own septic tank. He lives in one of the houses and has tenants in the other.

In 2019, Brown was issued an enforcement notice following the council’s application to the Environment Court, because the septic tank was still being used by his tenants despite being issued an abatement notice the previous year.

Brown’s resource consent to operate the septic tank on his own house expired in May 2021.

In July 2021, the council obtained a search warrant and four officers entered the property.

The court decision noted that officers found obvious signs that people were living in the house and that the wastewater system was being used.

Officers took samples from the septic tank, which showed the wastewater was not being treated properly before being discharged to land.

Brown was charged with discharging a contaminant, namely septic tank waste from a domestic waste water system, into land in circumstances where it could enter the Heretaunga Plains unconfined aquifer, without a resource consent.

He pleaded not guilty and stood trial in Hastings District Court in June.

Judge Melinda Dickey heard that Brown had told the officers that the septic tank was no longer discharging to land and was only being used as a holding tank that was emptied by a suction truck, and that a report about this had been submitted to the council.

Council staff found no record of such a report, and said it was “highly improbable” that the tank was being emptied as Brown claimed.

Judge Dickey said she also did not find Brown’s claim credible, and found it proved beyond reasonable doubt that the septic tank waste was being discharged to land, and that it was possible that this could enter the aquifer.

Brown was found guilty. A sentencing date was yet to be set.

Brown said he was unaware of the guilty verdict until he was contacted by Stuff on Monday.

He said he was disappointed by the result and said the entire saga had been a “nightmare”.

“The whole thing’s been a huge cock-up by the council. They’ve been hostile and impossible to deal with. No-one wants to listen, and they seem to want to persecute me for some reason,” he said.

Brown said there were no orders preventing him from using his septic tank, and he continued to live in the house.

“I’m just hoping that once I’m sentenced we can work together. The tanks are modern and can work well, but they want tens of thousands of dollars for new consents. But they don’t want to work with me. It’s a shame,” he said.

The council did not wish to comment.