Littering in Council Parks, Illegal Dumping increases across Auckland, & Auckland as the 'premier tech city' of New Zealand w/ Councillor Julie Fairey: 22 May, 2025

Last year, Auckland Council removed 30% of bins from public places with the hopes of saving about $9.5 million over an eight year period. While the council didn’t foresee an increase in littering, last week Stuff published an article sharing the frustrations of residents who observed a growing litter problem in council parks.

Illegal dumping has also been on the rise across Auckland.
 With more than 1300 reports per month, the cost of retrieving illegally dumped items is about $2.7 million every year and rising.

Also Mayor Wayne Brown has announced that he wants to see Auckland become the “premier tech city” of New Zealand to boost our global influence and reputation—-- calling on the government to establish the new Advanced Technology Institute here, which he says could play a key role in guiding new start-ups, so ideas don’t ‘die on the vine’.

Beginning with the problem of rubbish in Auckland, Producer Sara started by asking Julie Fairey if she believed the removal of bins was to blame for increased littering