Dog walkers in Auckland's Remuera are dumping bags of dog poo where Auckland Council removed a popular rubbish bin.
Ōrākei Basin is a popular walking spot for locals and an off-leash park where dogs are regularly seen running around.
- Are you having problems with bin removals in your neighbourhood? Email news@newshub.co.nz
One woman who spoke with the NZ Herald said she was shocked to discover about a dozen or more plastic bags of poo at the entrance of a walkway leading down to Ōrākei Basin off Upland Rd on Tuesday morning.
"Dog owners, either in optimistic expectation that the bin will be replaced or in protest at its removal, are continuing to deposit their dog's doings in bags in the spot where the bin once stood," she said.
The bags of poo sit beneath a sign in the park that states: "Off Leash Dog Exercise Area".
People in the park on Wednesday morning could be seen walking past the pile of green, black and white plastic bags with disgust.
Martin Wong, the council's area operations manager for Waitematā and Ōrākei, confirmed the bin had been removed but said there was another one "not far away in the carpark area".
"We know most dog owners are responsible and dispose of their dog waste in a responsible way. That means walking to the nearest bin or taking the waste home with them to dispose of."
He said the littering of dog waste is not responsible.
"If a bin didn’t exist in a place before, then most people would take their waste away with them. The reduction in rubbish bins shouldn’t result in any different behaviour."
"We have noticed that some dog walkers have deposited their dog waste where rubbish bins have been removed. We have also noticed other park users calling out this behaviour which has seen this behaviour slow down."
H2 Rubbish at boat ramp
A man who spoke with Newshub said he's noticed an "accumulation" of rubbish beside Pt Chevalier's Oliver St boat ramp after a bin was removed.
He said the rubbish was "scattered all around" and locals were ignoring it.
"In the past, nearby neighbours often cleaned up and at least used to have the council bin to put it in," the man, who didn't want to be named, said.
The man collected the pile of rubbish by the boat ramp and placed it further back from the water, where the bin used to be.
"This is close to the harbour - if it was windy much of this would have ended up in the sea."
He's calling on Mayor Wayne Brown to "bring back bins".
"Maybe reallocate a proportion of the council rates obtained from KFC, McDonalds and Dominos and use this to fund local bins or add an extra rate to such businesses," he said.
Auckland Council announced they would take away rubbish bins across the city in a bid to save money in February. They had already started removing bins in November, 2023.
The council confirmed to Newshub earlier this month almost 2090 bins have been removed so far.
Many people have taken to social media complaining about overflowing bins and increased littering since the removals.
"They removed 6 bins along the walk I do with my dog every day. Now there isn't a bin for over 2km," one person said on Reddit.
"I saw one dog walker place their poo bag in the spot the bin used to be so I don't think this will encourage people to pick up their dog shit."
Auckland Council believes having fewer public rubbish bins could save more than $1.3 million a year.
"The Auckland region has thousands of rubbish bins - around 10,000 in fact at the last count in November 2023," Auckland Council's General Manager for Parks and Community Facilities Taryn Crewe said at in February.
"But it's become clear that a large number of these bins are underused and contain little or no rubbish when our contractors empty them."
Crewe said the removal of bins was to "save money across the whole council as part of the Annual Budget savings target."
She added Auckland would "still have around 7000 bins across the city."
