Councillors question Timaru CBD public toilet redevelopment

Wednesday, 8 May 2024

A public toilet on Strathallan Corner in Timaru.

Council staff have been told an investigation into the replacement of the public toilets in Timaru’s CBD should not be over-thought, with a simple, safe design all that was needed.

Councillor Allan Booth’s comments came during Tuesday’s Timaru District Council meeting where group manager corporate and communications Stephen Doran provided a nine-month performance report on its annual plan.

Included in that plan is the replacement of the Strathallan Corner toilets, part of the council’s inner town centre enhancement programme, with funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's (MBIE) Tourism Infrastructure Fund.

Councillor Sally Parker questioned Doran about public consultation for the project when costs were yet to be completed, and it had not been determined if it met the criteria for MBIE funding.

One of three designs for the redevelopment of Timaru’s Strathallan Corner toilets. This design is by Silva Studio.

“So it feels like we should have maybe got the costings, and made sure we met the grant details first, before going out to the public for consultation,’’ Parker said.

On April 9, the council shared plans from three architects, Rushton Architects, DLA Design, and Silva Studios, to its social media pages and on its website, asking for people to choose their favourite design.

Doran said this was not a formal consultation.

Property services and client representative Nicole Timney said the process was part of the CityTown project, which had been on hold for more than a year, and had been handed to her “part way through’’.

The $34 million CityTown project aimed to create a masterplan for the long-term development of Timaru’s CBD.

Timney said when she took over, there had “already been a request out for some concept ideas from three local architects’’.

However, she said the designs did not meet the project’s scope.

Parker asked whether the council’s communication with the designers around the project had been clear to which Timney responded: “We were very clear’’.

“I think it was more a case of ideas that came forward from the local architects, just expanded on the scope so they thought about the whole design of the area as opposed to just the placement of the toilets,’’ Timney said.

“It was quite clear where we wanted them to be but they were placed in different places.

“We wanted them to dial it back.’’

Booth asked if the concepts had been shared with the town’s CBD Group.

Timney said they had not been shared with the CBD Group as the plans were non-compliant and she wanted to have the chance to go back to the architects and see if the concepts could be redrawn.

She could then approach the CBD Group, she said.

However, they were shared publicly on the council’s social media, website and at the library.

DLA’s design for the Strathallan Corner toilets in Timaru.

Councillor Stu Piddington said he was concerned about the potential cost of the project.

“We simply just haven’t got the budget to do it and it concerns me again we’ve got this out of kilter - moving the toilets back, front, plumbing,” Piddington said.

He said, comparing the project to Waimate’s new $192,000 public toilet block in Glenavy, “we haven’t got much more than that, yet we’ve got these grand designs that lift people’s expectations with no budget to go with it’’.

Timney said she had asked for an option of the status quo for councillors to consider.

Piddington said he was confused by the proposal because feedback from the CityTown trials indicated people liked Strathallan Corner the way it was.

“Then somehow two years later we’re redesigning it again. It just confuses me and it seems like a waste of money.’’

Timney said she could not talk to those trials, but said she would make sure the designs were “dialled back’’ and would return to councillors with a suite of options to consider.