A local Councilor is furious after Auckland Council spent nearly $150,000 on a statue at a park, where it later removed a rubbish bin, to cut costs.
The sculpture at the Pakuranga Rotary walkway was put in at the end of last year, where the pricey piece of art quickly became a community conversation starter.
Especially after a bin near the statue was then considered too expensive to keep.
Auckland Council is in the process of removing almost a third of rubbish bins across the city, claiming it will save $9.5 million over the next eight years.
Local Councilor Maurice Williamson told The Herald the council needs to focus on the basics if it truly wants to cut costs.
"I'm a firm believer that council has core roles it needs to handle like water, wastewater, rubbish, footpaths and roading. It's time council stuck to its knitting instead of nice-to-haves like funding pieces of aluminium as an arts and culture thing," Williamson said.
He told the NZ Herald removing the rubbish bin is a hassle for people, like himself, who frequent the park.
However, Auckland Council's head of area operations parks and community facilities, Julie Pickering told the Herald public art plays a key role in a lively city environment and that the rubbish bins weren't removed at random.
She said they factored in what bins were in areas where people would be easily able to take their rubbish with them.
She also said part of the art was funded by the Pakuranga Rotary Club.
"The total cost of the sculpture, including artwork design, consenting, fabrication and installation was $187,628. Of this total, $146,628 was allocated through the Auckland Council public art budget. The Rotary Club of Pakuranga contributed $41,000."
