Trust keeps eye on disabled-toilet row

By STAFF REPORTERS

The Historic Places Trust says it will work to ensure that a dispute over installing a toilet for the disabled in a historic Northland grocery store will have the best outcome for the building's heritage.

The Far North District Council has requested that a paraplegic toilet and facilities be added to the part of the building occupied by a Four Square shop.

But building owner Wayne Brown is disputing the council's request because the toilets in the shop are not for public use.

Mr Brown, the Auckland District Health Board chairman, does not own or operate the Four Square business, but he is dealing with the council as he owns the building, which has a Historic Places Trust category two rating.

The other part of the building is Mr Brown's home.

Upgrading and alteration work has been enough to invoke a Building Act provision that requires him to provide toilet facilities for paraplegics in commercial premises.

But he says the toilets are for staff and because it is a grocery shop, not a restaurant or cafe, the public would not have access to the toilets anyway.

He compared his building to the council-owned Mangonui Hall.

"Those are commercial premises because if you want to hire the hall you have to pay," he said.

"Everyone uses the toilets there except paraplegics because there are no facilities for them. What constitutes an alteration?"

Mr Brown said yesterday that he had even offered to contribute financially to upgrade the hall's toilets for paraplegic use.

He had received angry calls from organisations representing people with disabilities since the dispute over the toilets was made public and felt he had been portrayed as "the bad guy".

"But the council are refusing to do [with the Mangonui Hall] exactly what I am disputing."

But council chief executive Clive Manley said the amount of alteration work Mr Brown was doing on his building meant he had to meet modern-day standards under the Building Act.

That included toilets for the disabled.

"We just don't have the power now to issue a consent in this situation," Mr Manley said.

There had been no major alterations done on the Mangonui Hall but if there were to be, the council would have to make changes for paraplegics there too.

The council and Mr Brown have now agreed to refer their impasse to the Building Industry Authority in Wellington for a ruling on whether paraplegic facilities must be installed.

Historic Places Trust heritage adviser Tony Barnes said the trust was working with Mr Brown to get a good heritage outcome from the building's upgrade.

He said although the act did provide some flexibility in its application to heritage buildings, that flexibility did not extend to waiving the requirement for facilities for disabled people.