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An infamous party street in Dunedin’s student quarter has been inundated with rubbish as students empty their flats after the final semester’s end.

Couches, mattresses, food waste, broken glass, whiteware appliances and various other materials were left strewn along Castle St following the annual exodus of its residents.

The Dunedin City Council (DCC) said the mess is “the worst we have seen in recent years”.

“We are obviously extremely disappointed to see the state North Dunedin streets have been left in,” it said.

“Our illegal dumping collection team and street sweepers will be concentrating on the area over the next few days, in addition to our normal scheduled collections, to make sure streets are once again clean, tidy and safe.”

The University of Otago said it was “very disappointed” with the amount of waste left.

Piles of rubbish line Castle Street despite recent university clean-up efforts. Photo / Ben Tomsett

It said the institution plays “an active role in supporting the DCC with waste management in North Dunedin”, funding multiple clean-up initiatives throughout the year.

“Throughout the year, we operate and fund ‘Diversion Days’, where skips are situated throughout North Dunedin to help students more responsibly dispose of their waste,” the university said.

This was held most recently on October 31, it said. Five 30-cubic-metre general waste hook bins were collected that day, with more than five tonnes of rubbish taken off the street.

More than a dozen abandoned couches and bags of rubbish were left out after the weekend. Photo / Ben Tomsett

A further tonne of recyclables was also captured.

The university also runs its annual Drop for Good initiative in collaboration with the Otago University Students’ Association (OUSA), now in its fifth year.

The university and DCC say they are working with other stakeholders to address the situation. Photo / Ben Tomsett

“Students can drop their unwanted flatting goods at our Anzac Avenue depot or arrange for goods to be picked up from their flat,” it said.

“These goods can then be recycled and purchased in our ‘Shop for Good’ at the start of the 2026 academic year. Nothing costs more than $20 and all proceeds are used to fund other student-led sustainability initiatives.”

The university says its programmes have diverted over 400 tonnes of waste from landfill in recent years. Photo / Ben Tomsett

Last year, 1800 students visited the Shop for Good over three days.

“We have estimated that we have diverted more than 400 tonnes of waste from landfill over the past few years,” the university said.

The Drop for Good initiative lets students donate unwanted flatting goods for reuse. Photo / Ben Tomsett

The university said it has also pushed for better waste collection schedules to match the area’s population density.

“The DCC now provides weekly, rather than fortnightly pickups, which has made a significant difference,” it said.

Beyond collection efforts, the university said it provides “ongoing education and support around waste management”, including sessions in residential colleges to help students “prepare for flatting and understand how to manage their waste effectively”.

Otago University said it collected more than five tonnes of waste during its most recent Diversion Day. Photo / Ben Tomsett

Despite those initiatives, the university said it was “very disappointing to see the large amount of waste that has been left in North Dunedin over the weekend”.

“We are working closely with other key stakeholders to remedy the situation.”

The university called it "very disappointing to see so much waste left behind". Photo / Ben Tomsett

The university said it has also pushed for better waste collection schedules to match the area’s population density.

“The DCC now provides weekly, rather than fortnightly pickups, which has made a significant difference,” it said.

The DCC said landlords were also able to assist in clean-up efforts by checking for unsorted rubbish and recycling during flat inspections and arranging a trailer or a skip for their tenants’ use for a few days around the start and end of semesters.

“As a signatory to the Sophia Charter, the DCC works hard to keep the tertiary area tidy and safe, and making it as easy as possible for students to deal with rubbish and recycling,” the council said.

“All we ask is that everyone makes a reasonable effort to do the right thing.”

Despite new weekly pick-ups, waste has again piled up across North Dunedin's student streets. Photo / Ben Tomsett

Beyond collection efforts, the university said it provides “ongoing education and support around waste management”, including sessions in residential colleges to help students “prepare for flatting and understand how to manage their waste effectively”.

This morning, an Otago University student packing their car to return home for the summer said “it’s been a mostly good year” on the street, despite the late-year pile-up.

Castle St has made its way into headlines several times throughout the year.

Last week, about 50 people were reportedly seen shooting fireworks at each other when emergency services arrived.

Fire and Emergency Otago district manager Craig Geddes said fireworks were also shot at a fire truck but missed, adding that the organisation had “zero tolerance for behaviour that puts staff or other emergency services at risk”.

Earlier this year, a 19-year-old man was hospitalised in a critical condition after falling from the roof of a two-storey student flat on Castle St while taking a photo.

Police said the man was on the roof with friends when he lost his balance, slid down and struck his head on the pavement.

Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.