A concept design for the renovated public toilets in Cory Park Domain.
Tairua’s tumultuous public toilet debacle has taken a u-turn as plans for a $475,000 upgrade have been scrapped.
The toilet block at Cory Park Domain is no longer fit for purpose with its current state being described as ‘disgusting’ by the community.
To address the issue, $155,000 from the Tourism Infrastructure Fund and $120,000 from the Tairua Pāuanui public convenience renewals budget, have been allocated to the project.
In April, Thames-Coromandel District Council said this budget was insufficient and proposed spending an extra $200,000 from the Tairua-Pauanui Community Board Land Subdivision Reserve fund to build a completely new facility.
This proposal received a frosty response from ratepayers with the community board saying it was “out of hand”.
Instead, the board now opted for a renovation of the existing block and building a new unisex toilet facility.
Following a recent meeting, Tairua-Pāuanui Community Board chairman Warwick Brooks said the board had received a draft concept plan to replace the women’s side of the existing facility with a unisex three-pan including and wheelchair access toilet block.
The existing men’s side was no longer fit for purpose and would be decommissioned.
He said the Tairua Rugby and Sports Club had indicated interest in taking the decommissioned men’s block over to use it as a storage facility.
“Our board now awaits final costings and the go-ahead from council to proceed with this project.”
Deputy board chairman Chris New said the community was pleased with the outcome after an overwhelming response to the earlier proposal.
“When they came out with the price of the new toilets, we said ‘no way’, it was bloody ridiculous,” New said.
“I am happy, those toilets have been disgusting for years.”
The board was told in April the existing toilet block, a single pan, would be decommissioned.
A renovation had not been priced, but there were comparable projects such as the $225,000 spent on a single-pan toilet further north in the Coromandel.
Consultation with the community revealed the preference was for a three-pan public convenience facility at Cory Park, adjacent to Manaia Rd near the tennis courts and the skatepark.
The proposed scope for the unit aligned with obligations under the Tourism Infrastructure Funding agreement to provide a facility with a “like-for-like” level of service equivalent to the existing public convenience facility, located near the Tairua Rugby and Sports Club facilities at the southern end of the reserve.
Board members and council staff heard that the community was concerned at the lack of toilets on Cory Park Domain, and that there were issues with some users of the park, particularly of the tennis and cricket facilities, urinating into the open drain running along the northeastern end of the reserve.
This sparked the suggestion to increase the budget by $200,000 to construct a three-pan unisex toilet, as it met ‘like for like’ service level requirements under the funding agreement while addressing community feedback. This was the council’s preferred option.
Option two would utilise the available budget of $275,000 to construct a single-pan unisex toilet facility, but it would not meet ‘like for like’ service level requirements under the funding agreement, and not meet the long-term service level requirements of the community.
Thames Coromandel District Council was approved for $2,206,132 in funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Tourism Infrastructure Fund in September 2023 towards tourist hotspot toilets and pathways.
The Tourism Infrastructure Fund was set up to ease the burden on local communities in need of assistance and/or facing pressure from tourism growth and is focused on investing in projects repairing infrastructure impacted by recent extreme weather events and improving future resilience.
It was designed specifically for areas with high visitor numbers but small ratepayer bases like in Coromandel.