Overflowing bins and dog poo bags in parks a hazard, says mum

A mum says she was "appalled" after taking her twins to play at a city park where public bins were "overflowing with food waste, dog poo bags and smoking items".

Sally Anne, 34, from Cardiff, said the state of Kitchener Gardens playground was an "absolute hazard to children and really disappointing", adding that she had also found bins overflowing with dog waste in nearby Sanatorium Park.

Dog walker Lee Mason, 47, said unemptied public bins were "all too common in many parks and streets around Cardiff lately".

Cardiff council said it had recently introduced a new schedule to empty litter bins in parks and on roads "as part of a wider strategy to improve the cleanliness of our streets".

Sally said she found "all sorts of rubbish" at Kitchener Gardens park in the Canton area earlier this month, after taking her 19-month-old son and daughter there to play.

"I could not believe it," she said.

"There was takeaway containers, disposable plates, cutlery, a rug, full dog poo bags, vapes and broken glass. There was so much [litter]."

Sally became distressed after she saw that her son, who has a peanut allergy, had picked up a discarded disposable plate covered in food off the floor.

"He picked it up whilst I was with his sister, which could have been really harmful to him," she added.

Sally, who reported what she found on the city council's app, said she "won't be returning to the park anytime soon".

She said she also found three bins "overflowing with dog poo bags" at nearby Sanatorium Park, where a new children's play area opened last year.

"I'm quite often out on my own with the twins so if there are additional things I have to worry about, I just wouldn't go back," Sally said.

"You have to be so careful because there is stuff [litter] everywhere all the time.

"We pay so much council tax, it just doesn't make sense."

Sally believes the bins are not emptied regularly enough and thinks there needs to be more bins in the parks so people can dispose of their rubbish.

She said there was also a responsibility for the local community to "take pride and look after" the parks.

"It's not hard to take your rubbish home with you," she added.

Lee Mason, a 47-year-old dog walker from Cardiff, said he came across bins overflowing with dog poo "so often", adding that the issue was "all too common in many parks and streets around Cardiff lately".

He recently shared a photograph of a bin piled high with dog poo bags in Hailey Park, Llandaff North, on a Facebook community group, and said he was "baffled" when days later the entire bin was removed by the council.

"Especially as it's the only bin that covers that area of the park and Taff Trail," said Lee.

The council said litter bins in Hailey Park had been "reviewed and repositioned to improve access for our collection crews, with no reduction in the number of bins available". It said bins at the park were being emptied seven days a week as part of a new collection schedule.

Lee felt there were not enough bins, but said people should be prepared to take their waste home with them.

"Personally, I don't think there are enough bins in some of our parks or green spaces, so granted you could be carrying a bag for some time before coming across another. But if you don't, then just take it home with you," he said.

Lee, who walks up to six dogs at a time, said that quite often he does not come across "any bins whatsoever" on his route which could be a "nightmare".

He has resorted to putting a bin in his van to help him "dispose of the bags safely".

Lee said he reported overflowing bins to the council but said "it can sometimes take days for anything to be done about it".

"Considering the number of hours I'm out walking each day, I hardly ever see a bin being emptied anymore."

A Cardiff council spokesperson said: "We have recently introduced a new schedule to empty litter bins in parks and on the highway, as part of a wider strategy to improve the cleanliness of our streets across the city.

"As with any change in a service, it will take a little time for the new arrangements to bed in, as our staff are working on new collection rounds to empty these bins and we would like to thank the public for their patience while this take place.

"The council has over 2,100 litter bins in parks and on the highway across the city. If a litter bin is full, please look for other bins in the location that have capacity, or alternatively, where possible, we ask the public to take their litter home with them, dispose of it responsibly, and recycle as much as possible through the kerbside recycling scheme."