CASTLECLIFF WHEELIE-BIN LID LEFT OPEN OVERNIGHT — RESIDENTS DEMAND ANSWERS

On the night of Tuesday 14 May, at a residential property in Castlecliff, a green kerbside wheelie bin was left with its lid open. It stayed open until at least 6.40am. Nobody has been held accountable. This is the story of how a suburb was let down.

Multiple residents who spoke to Stuff on condition of anonymity described a culture of silence around the bin. One source, who lives "within visual range" of the lid, said she had raised it with the household "more than once". She did this via a note taped to the handle. "They took the note off," she said. "They did not close the lid. Draw your own conclusions." A second source said the incident was "not isolated". A recycling crate had been observed "at an angle" in April. "It's a piss-take, frankly," the source said. "You give these people a bin and this is what they do with it."

"I've filed a Section 28 under the council waste bylaw. I'm told it's not a section that exists. I'm told that's a matter of interpretation."

What we know: The lid was open. The bin was on the kerb. Household rubbish was visible from the footpath, including what a witness described as "a Countdown bag, the old branding". A gull was observed in the vicinity. This reporter's mate at the station, a sergeant of 22 years, cautioned that Castlecliff gulls "are always in the vicinity". Their presence, he said, is not evidence of anything. The household includes at least one person under 25. This reporter notes that fact without comment, other than to say it explains a great deal.

What we don't know: Whether the lid was left open deliberately. Whether it was blown open by the westerly that comes in off the beach most evenings. The sergeant added that the westerly "does exactly this to about forty bins a week, Dave". Whether the note-writer's own bin, allegedly wheeled out on the wrong day in 2019, has any bearing on her credibility. Whether a Whanganui District Council spokesperson was being sarcastic. The spokesperson said the matter "did not meet the threshold for a bylaw officer" and that "the lid is designed to open".

By Thursday the bin had been emptied by the contracted truck and returned to the driveway, lid closed. The note-writer described this as "convenient". A neighbour on the other side was asked whether she had seen anything. She said she had, and that she'd been "waiting for someone to bloody ask". Stuff has approached the bin for comment.