Illegal tyre scheme operator ordered to pay more than $230,000

Media release
A Lockridge man who collected and then illegally stored thousands of used tyres on rented properties around Perth before abandoning them has been ordered to pay a total of $235,115.55 in fines, repatriation, and costs after pleading guilty in the Perth magistrates Court.
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Nuku (Nick) Pomare operated a scrap tyre collection business known as Bros Disposable Tyres. He collected scrap tyres from mechanical workshops and tyre fitting businesses around Perth for a set fee, claiming the tyres would be exported overseas to be recycled.

Between 2016 and 2020 Mr Pomare, 63, transported tyres he collected from these businesses to various rental properties and commercial storage facilities around Perth. 

When he had accumulated a large quantity of tyres on the properties, he then failed to pay his rent and ultimately abandoned the tyres on the properties, ignoring requests to remove the tyres and leaving the landowners with the burden of unpaid rent and removal of the tyres.  

This occurred at multiple properties around Perth, including two properties in Wungong at which more than 20,000 tyres were illegally stored, storage units in Malaga and Maddington that contained more than 5,000 tyres, a property in Landsdale where over 4,000 tyres were stored, and at properties in Kenwick and Kewdale. The Kewdale property was a residential home where more than 3,300 used tyres were illegally stored.

Mr Pomare pleaded guilty to 18 charges, one relating to causing pollution, six relating to the illegal discharge of waste, four relating to discharging waste without relevant approvals, and seven for transporting waste without relevant approvals.

Mr Pomare’s total penalty was a fine of $95,000, reparation costs (to pay property owners for the clean-up) totalling $127,288.95 and Mr Pomare was ordered to pay $12,826.60 costs, a total of $235,115.55.

Magistrate Andrew Maughan said the offending was serious, and that the incorrect storage of tyres provided not only an environmental hazard due to the risk of fire, but also because they provided a habitat in which vermin and mosquitos could breed.

He also noted the prosecution’s submission that Mr Pomare placed an undue burden on landholders who, due to his failure, became responsible for the legal disposal of tyres stored on their premises by Mr Pomare.

The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation’s Executive Director for Compliance and Enforcement, Kelly Faulkner, said reports from the public helped with the case.

“Concerned residents reported a build-up of tyres on several of the properties, which led to the hazards being removed and charges for Mr Pomare being laid,” she said.

“Anyone who witnesses illegal dumping is asked to call the department’s Pollution Watch Hotline on 1300 784 782, or email pollutionwatch@dwer.wa.gov.au.”