Gold Coast park shocker: Revolting find leaves locals appalled

Thought you’d heard and seen it all, and people could not be any more revolting? You thought wrong, if a recent find in a Gold Coast park is anything to go by.

Now this is a new version of illegal dumping.

As our city grows, it seems every week we encounter yet another issue in our neighbourhoods: whether it’s someone refusing to pick up their pet’s refuse or using someone else’s bin, garden or worksite to dispose of a doggy-do bag – which is a definite doggy-don’t – there is always something bothering someone.

But this latest one … well, it certainly made me flush.

A Mermaid resident posted on social media an image of an extra-large, used nappy left lying on the grass with the following caption:

“If you’re going to wear an adult nappy so you can get p***ed and not need to go to the toilet, at least have the decency to drop it in a bin instead of in the park where you leave your lime bike. This happens more weekends than not lately.”

What?

I’ll admit this new disgusting addition to the perils of urban growth surprised the pants off me, but apparently it’s nothing new for many residents.

“Yep, people leave them in Lime bikes,” said one.

“I nearly picked one up thinking it was a plastic bag on Old Burleigh Road yesterday. I dry reached and then ran home to sanitise my hands,” said another.

One resident had a theory on why these droppings are increasing: “They are everywhere at the moment. I see them along Hedges Ave, in Broadbeach and also all over Burleigh Waters. I assumed it was homeless people with no access to bathrooms. But also how hard is it to drop it in the bin?”

The social media post revealing the horrific find.

I can see how homelessness could contribute to this problem, but if the cost of adult nappies is anything like baby nappies, that’s a lot of dollars to drop just to spend a penny.

But then, how many people are wearing a nappy out to the pub? Or the park for that matter?

And no matter who is wearing it, why wouldn’t you chuck it in the bin? Surely it’s more embarrassing to leave it on the ground where everyone can see what you just, well, deposited?

Unfortunately, it seems that we’ve lost not just our personal pride but our sense of what used to be called civic pride.

Indeed, as one resident commented: “How filthy is our beautiful country becoming?”

Our council does its best to keep our network of public parks clean and safe, but there seems to be a growing number in the community who feel they don’t need to contribute to the upkeep – or who actively damage these amenities.

Look at Lone Pine Park in Robina.

Councillor Dan Doran recently posted that the council repaired and reinstalled the bronze sundial sphere after vandals destroyed it.

“The memorial is dedicated to the servicemen and women who died in wars, conflicts and deployments for our country,” said Cr Doran.

“A huge thank you to the efforts of City Officers who had this memorial repaired within a week of being made aware of the vandalism.”

But even little things like littering, damaging plants or riding e-bikes across grassed areas leaves the space looking unloved.

Add to that graffiti on benches and anti-social behaviour and it veers into a sense of abandonment.

While no one wants residents acting as vigilantes, we can all do our part to pick up after ourselves and, if necessary, our neighbours. If that means we need to call out bad behaviour, so be it.

We are lucky to live in such a beautiful city with so many amenities, we should take pride in our hometown.

And while the sight of an adult nappy might not be the end of the world, let’s make sure that it’s not the soggy flag of a society that’s stopped giving a s**t.

Originally published as Gold Coast park shocker: Revolting find leaves locals appalled