Scrap Mountain - An Eyesore and Sleep Wrecker for Local, Elaine

In this series, we look at the business behind the mountain of scrap and explore just why nothing's being done to bring it down to size. Incl. interviews with ECAN councillor & a FENZ inspector.

No, this is not the movie screen story of a Civil War soldier played by Jude Law, returning home to Cold Mountain in Hollywood fashion. This mountain is made up of dismembered cars destined for shipping containers in Lyttelton Port and ships that will haul these disemboweled car bodies to distant shores on promises of money.

When the ships are in port, the work in the scrap business and the trucks moving it goes 24-7, says an unnamed source.

The mystery is why the heap at 147 Maces Road is there in the first place and why the owner is unresponsive. For Bromley resident Elaine, her concerns are more practical.

She walks her large Staffy cross through neighbouring Ruru Lawn Cemetery in the mornings and after a day at work in the central city. As she passes by the resting places of the city’s ancestors, she is struck by the sight of a scrap metal heap that festoons the east side of lawn.

But it’s not just the sight of the heap that bothers her. It’s the smell and the noise of cars being dismembered and dumped at night at the Annex Metals site.

Hugh McKee’s Annex Metals at 147 Maces Road, Bromley

In this series, we take a look at the business behind the mountain of scrap and explore just why nothing seems to being done to bring it down to size. The series includes interviews with first term ECAN councillor Greg Brynes, FENZ fire inspector Bruce Irvine and with locals, and councillor Yani Johanson weighs into the argument. This is Elaine’s story. She gives her blunt assessment of the risks and her message to the owner of the heap.

“I moved to Bromley just over three years ago. I back onto, my house backs onto the west side of Ruru lawn cemetery. Sometimes I walk the dog through there. I walk around the perimeter and as I go around the perimeter, I have to pass the scrap heap.”