$6,000 of damage has recently been done just the public toilets at the Miyazu Japanese Gardens. Photo: Nelson City Council / Supplied
Vandalism to Nelson's public toilets has cost ratepayers at least $27,000 since July last year, with many toilet blocks being the subject of repeated attacks.
Toilets and windows have been smashed, cisterns and pipes have been cut, and fires have been started, along with a lot of graffiti and tagging which have all forced the public toilets to be frequently closed for repairs.
"It's immensely frustrating," said Paul Harrington, Nelson City Council's acting manager for parks and facilities.
"Providing public toilets is a social benefit for the elderly, for people who have mobility issues, [the vandals] are really having a big impact on the most vulnerable people in our society."
Much of the destruction seems to have been caused by someone with the proper equipment to cut through pipes and cisterns, and to smash basins and toilet bowls.
"It's pretty serious and pretty frequent," Harrington said. "As you'd know with plumbing fixtures, it's expensive. That stuff is not cheap to repair. This is being funded by the ratepayer to repair."
Of the at least $27,000 of damage, $13,000 worth has been done in the period from November to January.
"There's been more since then. It's not stopping," Harrington said. "The Miyazu toilets were quite badly damaged a few weeks ago and that's looking at around $6000 because it's all porcelain basins and bowls."
Toilets bowls at Saxton Field were smashed twice before the porcelain was replaced with steel. Photo: Nelson City Council / Supplied
He said their budget for unprogrammed maintenance was going to be overspent which then left much less money for general upkeep and upgrades.
"Some of the Nelson toilets are in need of an upgrade, but unfortunately they'll just stay the same because that money is being spent just replacing what is already there."
Some preventative measures have been installed while other options are being investigated.
"Where things are getting smashed up regularly, we're looking at protecting them in some way, like putting a metal shroud around the pipework," Harrington said.
"And we're looking at greater lighting at Isel Park toilets, to see if it can be better illuminated - it might deter people."
However, cameras are expensive and with 45 public toilet facilities across the city, they would be costly to install at each location.
"The other thing is the privacy issue," Harrington said. "It's just not really acceptable to have cameras in toilets where privacy is so important."
Due to similarities in many of the vandalism cases, council believes there are only a few perpetrators and Harrington encouraged anyone who may know what's happening to let the police know.
Hand dryers and soap dispensers have been burned and melted. Photo: Nelson City Council / Supplied
"We'd look to try and prosecute if the police manage to find someone," he said. "There's a cost to everyone in the community, and it's also the most vulnerable that often miss out."
There is a graffiti wall opening at the Environment Centre on Vivian Place on 29 April and while graffiti art differs to the tagging found in the public toilets, Harrington hopes it could still be a draw for the vandals.
"We don't know how much that's going to encourage people to stop tagging in toilets, but that's something that we hope to be an outlet."
Examples of damage include:
- 1903 Square: Plastic facilities burned and melted, mirrors scratched, graffiti.
- Buxton Square: Smashed hand dryer, damaged mirror decoration, graffiti.
- Isel Park: Six broken windows in two months, graffiti. Windows now thick Perspex instead of glass and covered by metal grates.
- Monaco Reserve: Toilet cistern and pipework damaged with speciality tools.
- Ngawhatu Sportsfield: Fire started in accessible toilet room.
- Saxton Field: Toilet bowl, seat, and cistern smashed twice in one month. Now replaced with stainless steel pan to deter further damage.
- Skate Rink: Toilet seat and handbasin smashed, pipework cut. Since been covered in protective metal shroud.
- Upper Greenmeadows: Damaged toilet seats and dispensers, graffiti.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.
