Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Doggy Bag Streamers Too Tempting For Children
A resident of a property adjacent to Warren Cole Walkway is fed up with having to decorate her fence with Whakatāne District Council-provided doggy poo bags.
Julie Meekel would like the council to move the dispenser to a position where it would be less tempting for children walking and biking to school to grab them, creating one long streamer from the dispenser to the Landing Road Bridge.
Mrs Meekel’s fence is often strewn with what looks like green streamers.
“This is not an early St Patrick’s Day display,” she told the Beacon.
“A child riding his bike thought it was hilarious to grab the bags and keep riding along the Warren Cole Walkway. This is the result.”
The plastic bags come from the dispenser located at the Powhare Street entrance to the walkway. There are others in locations about town, but Mrs Meekel believes this to be the one that is targeted as it is right beside where children walk to school.
She said it was a regular occurrence along the walkway, sometimes happening daily. She believed the council checked the bag dispensers every day, replenishing them.
“One of our neighbours picked them all up this morning and put them on our deck,” she said.
Mrs Meekel has become known to dog walkers as she ties them to her fence rail where they can be grabbed while walking past.
“Within 48 hours they will all be gone. The dog walkers love them,” she said.
She didn’t always get the opportunity to help rescue the bags as people sometimes picked them up and threw them in the rubbish.
“Dog owners get fed up because it is about the only thing we get from our dog registration.” "Also if there are no plastic bags and the dog, registered or unregistered, does what dogs do well when running outside, then we are left in dog poo.”
“All [the council] would have to do is put the dispenser down a bit, on the grass where you walk off Powhare Street,” Mrs Meekel said.
“We’d be happy to do it for them. It would mean the dog walkers would have to take about four steps extra. Where it is, is right on the walkway.”
Whakatāne District Council has been approached for comment.
Local Democracy Reporting
Content from the Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) service is published by Scoop as a registered New Zealand Media Outlet LDR Partner.
Gordon Campbell: On The Government’s Stubborn Refusal To Invest For Growth
Green Party: Just Six Government MPs Needed To Pass Unlawful Occupation Of Palestine Sanctions Bill
Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust: Iwi Welcomes Progress On Northland Expressway
Kick Back: Urgent Review Of MSD Needed To Prevent More Rangatahi Sleeping Rough
Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu: Government Hellbent On Ignoring Evidence On Impact Of Social Investment For Most Vulnerable Whānau
Rangahau Aotearoa Research NZ: One In Two New Zealanders Are Affected By The Cost Of Living Crisis
Greenpeace: Greenpeace Seamounts Expedition Sets Off To Uncover Secrets Of The Deep
