Worker finds ‘mudslide’ of human faeces in central Wellington elevator

A Wellington contractor has described a “mudslide of hell” after discovering an inner-city elevator was coated with human faeces yesterday - just metres away from an expensive new public bathroom.

The Hope Gibbons carpark elevator, attached to Les Mills on Taranaki St, was the victim of yesterday’s faeces incident.

“The doors slide open and immediately, I’m hit with what felt like an atomic bomb,” said Rhysie Kahure Maaka Potae-Peneha who was contracted to do maintenance on the roof.

A controversial toilet block nearby opened in June last year on the corner of Taranaki and Dixon Streets in the Wellington city centre, costing the council $2.3 million, which included special light features.

Hope Gibbons carpark is on Taranaki Street in central Wellington

Potae-Peneha called the elevator incident a “mudslide of hell”, comparing what he saw to Vincent Van Gogh’s famous Café Terrace at Night painting.

“This was the most putrid, disgusting smell that has ever hit my nasal cavity and my soul.”

His eyes watered instantly, Potae-Peneha recalled, saying the “sh** was everywhere”.

The contractor had to spend the rest of the day going up and down six flights of stairs to access the roof for the maintenance work.

“The thing that really frustrated me was that there were the public bathrooms right outside the carpark.”

Les Mills on Taranaki St is a popular gym branch, costing members around $30 per week.

Today, the elevator appeared to be clean and no human faeces were in sight, smelling of cleaning products and sanitiser.

John Gibbons, who owns the Hope Gibbons carpark and part-owns the Les Mills Gym, confirmed the incident which occurred about lunchtime yesterday and was cleaned up in about half-an-hour.

“Unfortunately, we have street guys that come in and obviously and choose that,” he said.

Property owner John Gibbons previously said the nearby bathrooms were "a bit of an overkill". Photo / Ethan Manera

He said it was a “pity, since there’s a $3 million bathroom 20 yards away”.

A similar incident had happened once before in the elevator, and used to happen in the carpark building often before the public bathrooms were opened in June last year.

However, he felt there was nothing he could do about the incident.

Gibbons had previously been critical of the public bathrooms’ price, however, said the need was great as his carpark had become a place where people used the toilet.

Faeces have been a Wellingtonian’s worst enemy as of late, with the Moa Pt treatment plant disaster pouring sewage into the South Coast.

Sammy Carter is a journalist for the New Zealand Herald covering news in the Wellington region. She has previously worked at the Rotorua Daily Post.