Unmown West Auckland berm becomes makeshift toilet

A "houseproud" West Auckland man says that council inaction is leading to his patch of paradise being used as a makeshift toilet at night - and he has captured it all on video.

The Massey resident is so fed up with the situation on the land neighbouring his home that he has installed CCTV to soak up the nocturnal leakage.

On Monday night it captured a carload of women stopping on the quiet street to do their business.

Video shows them squatting to urinate right beside their vehicle.

Just metres behind them sits a portaloo, alone and unloved.

Locals who watched the video on social media were swift to condemn the mystery piddlers, describing them as "grots" and "pigs".

"I'm so sorry you've had to witness that. Dirty, filthy and totally disgusting," one resident wrote.

"Wow, no respect for the community and those that live in it. Makes you wonder what their house is like. So disgusting," another said.

Development delays

Problems began on the street after a nearby development stalled, leading to an unfinished site and wild unmown berms.

The local resident, who did not wish to be named, placed the blame squarely on Auckland Council.

"The berms are too steep to maintain and even the council won't maintain them.

"This sort of carry-on will continue if the council doesn't make the berms beautiful," he told the Herald.

The resident also listed other concerns with the state of the unfinished site.

Waitākere Ward councillor Linda Cooper told the Herald she "had a lot of sympathy" for the resident, who she described as "houseproud".

She said that the council had no jurisdiction to improve the area until the development was complete and the property was vested in council.

She said until then, they couldn't force the developer to act.

Once he applied for code compliance, the council could then apply some leverage to force him to improve the site.

"We can't go on people's private property and start ordering them around," Cooper told the Herald.

She said the public urination was a police issue.

"It's not for us to mow it, it's not a council piece of land".

The brazen behaviour was caught on CCTV. Photo / Supplied

Police told the Herald that they were not immediately aware of this incident being reported to them.

Under NZ law, public urination is illegal but an exception is made if the person has reasonable grounds for believing they would not be observed.

A spokesperson for Auckland Council previously told the Herald that they are responsible for mowing berms adjacent to or forming part of council-owned land and facilities such as parks and reserves.

"The council will also mow along rural roads to maintain visibility and safety, which is usually about a one-metre margin on either side of the road," the spokesperson wrote.

"Generally the responsibility of mowing grass berms adjacent to all other properties now rests with the owners or occupiers. People are asked to take pride in their streets and ensure the berms in front or to the side of their properties are mowed regularly."

As one woman pulls up her pants, a little portaloo waits. Photo / Supplied

Linda Cooper suggested that the video did not prove that public urination was a particular problem at the site, as not everyone was recording CCTV footage from their property.

"It could be happening everywhere."

She stressed that personal responsibility was key to the incident and asked "what on earth people are doing urinating outside?"

"Everybody wants to blame the council for everything," she added. "Actually sometimes it's just people's behaviour, which isn't very nice."

She said Auckland Council had been involved in a long process with the irate resident and admitted that he had previously sent her other videos of people urinating outside his property.

"To be quite honest, people need to be a bit better behaved.

"We kind of expect everybody to police everybody but we need to have a bit of self-discipline."

However, Cooper described the urination as "high outrage/low harm" and said it "didn't really hurt anybody."

"I know this sounds awful, but it's no different to a dog peeing."

She argued there were "much more important things in the world".

Relief in sight?

Looking for solutions, the Herald approached self-described berm philanthropist Rick Mozessohn for his take on the contentious issue.

Vigilante mower Rick Mozessohn won't be posing like this in Massey any time soon. Photo / Dean Purcell

The North Shore resident hit the headlines last month when he went public with his berm obsession and launched a scheme to pay local children to mow unkempt verges.

He said he was "vicariously stressed out" by the wild western berms and described the situation as a "travesty".

He offered to get the ball rolling by sending out his "Fescue Rescue" children's army to bring the berms under control.