Dead animals put in rubbish bins

Press, 23 April 1983, Page 13

Dead animals put in rubbish bins

Dead animals, broken glass, and other offensive refuse has been left in concrete bins provided for the Paparua County rural refuse collection service. The Paparua Rural District Council decided to remove three of the 10 bins because of abuse of the service. A further bin will be taken away because of insufficient use. The Deputy County Engineer, Mr B. G. Green, told the council that all Of the bins would eventually have to be removed. The bins are provided for people, not living on the refuse collection route, to leave their household rubbish in. The rubbish is meant to be contained in tie-top bags and placed in the bins on Thursday, the day before collection. People have been using cartons, some containing bottles, which can overturn, and supermarket bags which collapse when damp. Some do not tie the tops of bags, said Mr Green. On one occasion, swan carcasses, about a month old, were thrown into a bin. “They could not be picked up, they were so rotten. We had to dig holes on the side of the road and bury them,” he said. The intestines of a cattle beast were left in another bin. Some people have been

seen shovelling rubbish from the back of a trailer into a bln.

Although the bins were emptied on Fridays, some were full again the next day. In hot weather, the refuse became “putrid” and attracted vermin and dogs, said Mr Green. All of the bins would eventually have to be removed because the system could not be policed and offenders often could not be identified. The best method was to collect bags from property frontages. Residents not on the collection route would have to arrange to place their rubbish outside the house of someone who was. This had been done when other bins were removed and no complaints had been made to

the council, said Mr Green. Five bins were misused the most Three would be removed and two relocated, the council decided. Cr D. R. Shipley said that some of the problems could arise because there were not enough bins. “Maybe they are putting in their rubbish several days early because there is no room later. Maybe we are cutting costs too much and taking things away that our ratepayers need,” he said. The chairman, Mr A. Y. Shuker, said that council staff believed people living outside the county were responsible for misusing the bins. Mr Green said that the amount of rubbish was not so much of a problem as the types of containers used “or not used.”