New public toilets for Akaroa

Upgraded toilet facilities with extra capacity will be in place in Akaroa before the busy summer visitor season starts.

The influx of cruise ship passengers and holiday-makers over the summer puts pressure on the township’s ageing public toilets so the facilities are going to be upgraded.

An artist's render of the new toilet block in Akaroa.

The existing block of public toilets on Rue Jolie, behind the Akaroa Service Centre, will be demolished in late August to make way for a new 13-metre long prefabricated block of toilets.  There will be eight toilets within the new block, including two accessible toilets.

The Akaroa Design and Appearance Advisory Committee reviewed the design for the new toilets, which is deliberately similar to the design of the existing toilet block.

The new toilet block is being manufactured in Auckland and will be trucked to Akaroa in sections, beginning in October.

The toilets should be available for public use from mid-November.

While the new toilet block is assembled and the area around it landscaped, temporary toilets will be placed on site and in the park across the road for people to use.

Christchurch City Council Capital Delivery Community Facilities Manager Darren Moses says a $120,000 grant from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment’s Tourism Infrastructure Fund is being used to offset the $630,000 cost of the new toilets.

“Akaroa is a tourist hotspot and it is important we provide good quality public facilities,’’ says Mr Moses.

“The existing public toilets are getting old and are in a less than ideal condition so we’re pleased that we can replace them in time for the start of the next cruise season.’’