A couple of Warren St retailers are hoping to convince Hastings District Council to install a toilet opposite their shops to stop people from urinating in a nearby park as well as defecating at the back of their premises.
Thomas O'Connell operates TC Computers and his shop overlooks a pocket park the council built last year as part of an overall plan to build more green spaces in the city.
But Mr O'Connell said the introduction of the park had brought with it a higher number of people seeking to relieve themselves in public.
"People urinate against the wall [at the park] or go around the back and do both No1s and No2s," he said. "Or they come across the road to the back of my shop where more than often there are No2s there on a Monday morning.
"There's one particular man who we see come along every morning... and he normally urinates up against the wall of the park."
Mr O'Connell said he thought the park was a good idea but it needed to include a toilet as there were a lack of loos in the east end of the CBD. "I get people coming in here all the time asking to use our toilet but I can't allow it because we share it with the other shops."
Kris Bristow is the owner of the three shops where Mr O'Connell runs his business. Mr Bristow also runs a book shop there and is on hand most mornings to watch people. "I've even seen mothers take their kids into the park and go behind the wall, and it's obvious what they're doing. It's not something we used to see before the park was there."
They had been told by the council there was not enough money left in the budget to build a new toilet in the east end and that people still had the option of walking to the nearest public loo on Russell St, two blocks away.
"I don't think anyone's going to walk that far to go to the toilet, they'll just go here," Mr O'Connell said.
Hastings district councillor Kevin Watkins, who is chairman of the civic pride committee and Landmarks Advisory Group, said if the problem was an isolated case of a few people repeat offending then the council would "deal with it quickly".
"I'm happy to sit in the shops to see what's going on and if we can see who is causing the trouble we can call the police and nip it in the bud," he said. "If it's becoming more of a common occurrence, then it will be something we need to address further."
Cr Watkins said he had been monitoring the new park to see how many people had been using it. He said there had not been an official request for toilets in the east end but the retailers were welcome to make a submission to the council's long-term plan which is up for review this year.
"Putting in a new toilet is not a cheap operation. The one in King St [put in at the end of 2010] cost about $70,000."
Mr O'Connell and Mr Bristow initially came forward after news of the council's plans to install a skate park in the west end of the city, as the next phase of its green space plan.
Cr Watkins said the new skate park would include a toilet.