Rubbish leaves bad impression, motelier says

A Dunedin motel owner says the amount of rubbish students leave on footpaths makes Dunedin look like a "Third World" city and the council needs to crack down on the culprits.

Alhambra Oaks Motor Lodge owner-operator Alan Kennedy said the amount of rubbish at the northern end of Great King St gave visitors a bad impression of the city.

"It's always an absolute shambles; dirty containers emptied over, rubbish everywhere," Mr Kennedy said.

The rubbish largely came from council rubbish bins being knocked over.

He often called the council, whose workers would then come and clean up the mess, but said a long-term solution was needed to prevent it from building up in the first place and the council or the university needed to take a firmer stand against the culprits.

"The students ... are living like pigs."

Council solid waste manager Ian Featherston said it was a "constant battle" keeping rubbish off the streets throughout the whole city and not just the student area.

The council already fined repeat offenders and was working with Campus Watch to help keep rubbish off the streets in the student area, Mr Featherston said.

A major cause of the problem was people putting out their rubbish bins the night before collection day, leaving them to be kicked over by drunks.

"If people were to keep their rubbish in their properties until the morning of collection, it would certainly make life a lot easier," he said.

University of Otago director of student services David Richardson said the university expected students to manage their rubbish properly and was working with flats to achieve this.

"The wider campus has been tidier this year as a result of added monitoring efforts put in by Campus Watch staff, who actively work with any flats that develop obvious rubbish management problems," Mr Richardson said.

-vaughan.elder@odt.co.nz

 

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