Work has started on an innovative toilet, shower and changing room facility at the Waipa mountain bike carpark, with the building featuring an overhead cycle bridge and providing a stunning gateway into Whakarewarewa Forest.
The new $495,000 facility will feature 12 toilets including provision for disabled users and four showers with changing room space.
A cycle pathway through the centre of the unit will lead mountain bikers into the forest's network of trails, with another cycle route across the top of the building.
The facilities follow a successful joint bid by the Rotorua District Council and the Home of Cycling Trust to Sport NZ, for the National Mountain Biking Centre of Excellence to be based in Rotorua. Council parks and recreation manager Garry Page said toilet facilities at the Waipa mountain bike carpark had been provided by inadequate portaloos for almost seven years, after a composting toilet donated by the Rotorua Mountain Bike Club and installed in collaboration with Fletcher Challenge Forest, was destroyed by arson.
"We constantly receive complaints about the poor toilet facilities and about environmental concerns around the proximity of Puarenga Stream, and people relieving themselves in the bush. So a key component of our bid for the National Mountain Biking Centre of Excellence was a commitment to providing modern toilet and shower facilities at a cost of up to $500,000.