Two paddocks of decaying cars near an Invercargill river have been described as an “eyesore” by the city’s mayor.

But the council is limited in what it can do about the site, admitting rules it introduced cannot be applied in retrospect.

On Invercargill’s Bay Rd, just a stone's throw from the Waihōpai River, long grass surrounds hundreds of cars.

Wrecks piled up near the banks of Invercargill's Waihōpai River. Photo: Southland App

Many have smashed or missing glass, while some have plants growing inside them.

Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark said people had come to him with concerns about leaks, corrosives and oils coming from the old vehicles.

“I don’t particularly like it, I think it’s an absolute eyesore. We’ve got to have a better way of disposing of old cars,” he said.

Clark believed part of the reason the cars were still sitting there was because the price of scrap metal wasn’t high enough to justify removing them.

“That’s not the only one we’ve got around town, we’ve got two or three others as well.”

Local Democracy Reporting understands there are as many as 80 sites around Southland where cars are being hoarded.

In response to questions, Invercargill City Council said the Bay Rd property was legitimately set-up for vehicle storage and had existing use rights.

Changes to the district plan in 2019 allowed for greater control over such sites, but the rules could not be applied retrospectively, council group manager consenting and environment Jonathan Shaw said.

“Because of the existing use rights, council has limited ability to ask that the cars be removed so long as they are on private property,” Shaw said.

A decrepit van surrounded by long grass is just one of many vehicles sitting neglected in a field near the Waihōpai River. Photo: Matthew Rosenberg/LDR

Any proposal to carry out an activity similar to that at Bay Rd would now require resource consent, and standards for having cars set back from the boundary would also come into play.

The property had been visited by the council’s environmental compliance team “on several occasions”, he said.

The team also kept an eye on the area for overgrowth and vermin control.

Environment Southland resource management manager Donna Ferguson said while the regional council was not currently doing routine monitoring on car storage sites, it had regular contact with the city council about the Bay Rd site.

The privately-owned land was on its Hazardous Activities and Industries List register, which includes sites that have possible contamination.

Potential environmental risks included fluid from vehicles ending up in groundwater or in stormwater drains, Ferguson said.

Local Democracy Reporting spoke to the owner, who only gave his name as Bernie.

The man runs a car wrecking business in Invercargill, but said he did not know how long the cars had been stored there.

Asked if he had environmental concerns, he believed those started with the road and “people driving down it daily”.

There was no regular contact with the council about the area, and rats had been in the river for the last few hundred years, he said.

The site was last monitored by Invercargill City Council in 2021 alongside Fire and Emergency New Zealand and Environment Southland.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air