West Harbour resident Antonia Wood spoke at the public forum of last week’s West Harbour Community Board to ask for its support in advocating for enough bins and dog poo bag dispensers to be installed on the new path.
"On the existing 5km of pathway, there are only three bins for rubbish and dog poo — that is not enough," she said.
"We all need to be kaitiaki for the path, but we also need support to do the work to keep the space clean, and prevent rubbish blowing into our harbour."
After being "disgusted" by the amount of dog poo left on the shared path, in the picnic areas and among the tussock by irresponsible dog owners, Ms Wood helped organise a "Scoop the Poop" community clean-up in 2021, which yielded 30kg of dog poo. Another clean-up at Back Beach gathered a similar amount.
A follow-up community clean-up on the shared path last year gathered "heaps less" rubbish and dog poo, but there was still a frustrating amount left on the path.
To help the situation, Ms Wood accessed dog poo bags through Animal Control and made her own homemade dispensers and weighted buckets to place on the shared path, emptying them weekly herself, until a further two bins were installed by council.
"Having dog poo bag dispensers and bins there helps to raise awareness and create expectations for people to do the right thing," she said.
As a "plogger" (someone who picks up rubbish while out running), Ms Wood is part of the Facebook group "Plogging Otepoti Dunedin" and also the "POOP: Poo Off Our Paths" group, taking part in regular clean-ups.
Her aim in speaking to the West Harbour Community Board was to highlight the need to make sure there would be enough bins on the new sections of shared path to encourage users to keep the area clean.
Contacted by The Star, Waka Kotahi SH88 Safety Project senior project manager Jason Forbes said installing amenities such as bins would usually be completed by the Dunedin City Council once the path was handed over after completion.
"But as part of the project we are installing five rubbish bins and five benches — one [for] each kilometre of path," he said.
These would be installed before the path is opened for public use, scheduled for mid-year.
The DCC was not planning to install bag dispensers on the path, but already offered them as part of dog registrations. People were encouraged to use them and could place the bags in the rubbish bins, a spokesperson said.
Keep Dunedin Beautiful chairwoman Cr Mandy Mayhem said more education was clearly needed around the responsibility of dog owners to keep the city clean.
"It’s not great — we need to do better as dog owners."
"I believe we can help resource and help Antonia in the great work she is doing — she’s a legend," Ms Mayhem said.
