Broken glass, empties a daily event

Alan Matchett.
Alan Matchett.
Patrolling the Dunedin Botanic Garden for vomit, empty bottles and broken glass is a daily activity for its staff, team leader Alan Matchett says.

Mr Matchett said cleaning up after late-night drinking sessions had become more common in recent years, coinciding with the University of Otago's crackdown on alcohol-fuelled misbehaviour.

The increase in drinking - and the associated mess - was an ''unfortunate consequence'' of the crackdown, he said.

Finding mess left over from parties could happen any day of the week, but it was particularly common on Friday and Sunday mornings.

He urged the students who drank in the garden to ''have some respect''.

Mr Matchett did not believe there were any ''quick fixes'' for the problem, but hoped education would result in a change in drinking culture. The Dunedin City Council had looked at closing the upper garden after dark, but this would involve committing extra resources to fence it off.

Introducing a liquor ban would punish people who drank responsibly in the garden, he said.

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