Feilding’s mystery bin man

A man claiming to have officials’ permission to rummage through recycling bins has copped a hostile reception from one Feilding resident.

Sam Seward has trespassed the unidentified man, following several confrontations about the man ransacking his recycling bin for cans while it’s stationed on the kerbside for collection.

The man, who rides a bike, often leaves items sprawled along the roadside and uses Seward’s property as a short cut by cutting across. Seward didn’t want which street he lives on published.

Upon confronting him, the man said he was collecting aluminium cans that he sold to recycling factories to raise money for a community garden to help buy seeds and fertiliser.

He claimed the bins were public property because they were on the kerbside and said he had permission from officials.

In a statement to Stuff, Manawatu¯ District Council spokesman Paul Stein said that was a lie and taking material from rubbish bins was not allowed.

The council had received ‘‘some’’ complaints about the man, though none recently.

Some residents had given the man permission to take cans, Stein said. But these should be bagged separately and not left in bins for him to forage through.

‘‘He has been advised several times that he is not to remove items from bins. We will consider what action will be taken if we receive a complaint.’’

A police spokesperson said the men in blue had no power as it was a civil problem, not criminal.

Seward wrote a post on Neighbourly about his encounter with the man. It yielded similar complaints from about 20 other residents in the Manawatu¯ town.

A spokeswoman from a community garden in Feilding said the man had occasionally mowed lawns, but he hadn’t donated anything else.