A New Plymouth woman would like to see a ban on G-string swimwear at public swimming pools (file picture). Photo: MATT LINCOLN
G-strings at pools aren't going anywhere in New Plymouth, with the council saying it will not be changing swimwear rules, despite a mother's campaign against the skimpy bikinis.
New Plymouth mum Amy Dixon, fed up with seeing derrieres on display at her local swimming pool called for a ban, starting a petition asking council to add it to the no-go list at public pools.
But Dixon said the trend was catching on with groups of young women, leaving her and her family with nowhere to look.
New Plymouth mum calls for G-string ban at public pools
Dixon told Checkpoint over the summer, she had seen people wearing the cheeky style of swimwear, "everywhere we've been going".
"On the particular day that I wrote into the swimming pools, I was at my boy's swimming lesson and there was a girl that was wearing a dental floss red swim piece," she said.
She said in other spaces where she felt uncomfortable she removed herself from the space, but said her local swimming pool was quite small.
"It's not really a place we can remove ourselves if we do feel uncomfortable about what people are wearing.
"I just wanted to put the question out there and see what other people thought and give a voice to people who might feel uncomfortable."
But New Plymouth District Council said it did not anticipate making any changes to its rules around swim wear.
Aquatics Lead Mike Roberts said his team worked hard to provide an environment that was inclusive and safe for everyone - while the rules stated those using the pool areas must wear swimwear - they did not state what kind of swimwear nor did they dictate how much skin could be showing.
He said the challenge was balancing people's rights with personal points of view.
The council said it had not had any other complaints about G-strings in recent years and it felt its current approach was appropriate.
Todd Energy Aquatic Centre in New Plymouth. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
Dixon said in regards to seeing people wearing G-string bikinis at the beach, people could move away.
"I have heard from friends who work near the beach and they've heard the public talking about it, there's people who are not that comfortable with the girls at the beach either in that space where there's lots of families around.
"But I think when we're there we can move away and we have that choice."
She said her family did not deem G-string bikinis appropriate.
"We don't go prancing around with our bums out and other families might feel the same about that.
"Whereas other families are really loose and really open, and that's OK too, but it's just going, is this okay for our community space and how can we be respectful to people of all different opinions in this space as well?"
She said Speedos were okay to wear because they had more coverage.