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16–148

Title: Public Conveniences Update

Section: Community Recreation

Prepared by: Andrew White (Community & Recreation Manager)

Meeting Date: 27 April 2016

☐ Legal ☐ Financial Significance = low

Report to COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & SERVICES Committee for noting

SUMMARY

The purpose of this report is to provide a further update to the Committee following invitation through Council’s Facebook page and by email for community suggestions for how the issue of night time vandalism of public toilets should be addressed. Most feedback was through Council’s Facebook page. Initiatives already discussed by the Committee such as locking some or all toilets at night, installing security cameras at some or all toilets, and developing pride through art featured strongly in comments received, as did charging a fee for night time users. Improving lighting, redesigning and upgrading facilities and improving the cleaning regime received moderate support. By and large, comments were a constructive response to Council’s evidence that by far the majority of mistreatment of public conveniences occurs at night and that night time behaviour was the issue to be resolved, although a few respondents registered a view that Council cleaning standards were of more concern.

This report also provides a summary of how some other comparable cities manage their central business district public toilets at night.

In light of the information received from public responses, and to attempt to minimise the level of mistreatment and vandalism of public toilets, management intends to:

Implement a one month trial to close all central business district, Elgin and Lytton public toilets during night time hours,

Undertake consultation with business owners to gather evidence on the impact of the above trial on central business cleanliness,

Monitor through Council’s cleaning team, the impact of the above trial on city cleanliness,

Request that the Gisborne Camera Trust and NZ Police actively monitor the Peel Street public toilets with camera infrastructure already in place in the central business district, on an ongoing basis, and

Undertake other initiatives stated in this report through the development of Council’s Community Facilities Strategy Public Conveniences Plan.

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The decisions or matters in this report are considered to be of low significance in accordance with the Council’s Significance and Engagement Policy.

RECOMMENDATION

That the Community Development & Services Committee:

1. Notes the contents of this report. Authorised by:

Andrew White  Nedine Thatcher Swann Community & Recreation Manager  Group Manager Planning & Development  

Keywords: toilets, public conveniences, heart of Gisborne, tourism eastland,

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BACKGROUND

1. Staff have presented two public toilet reports to the Committee in the past year. The first (15/286) in September 2015 provided historical context and a list of short and long term initiatives to improve performance. Included in this report was a graph showing community satisfaction decline with public toilets over the last 8 years (below), and an initiative to undertake increased monitoring of public toilets over the summer hosting period.

2. The second report (16/039), presented in February 2016, updated the Committee on progress made with actions identified in the earlier report, including monitoring, installation of new signage and design concepts for an improved Peel Street toilet facility. The report noted that while Council was still receiving requests for service about public toilets, the number being received had dropped 12.5% from the same summer hosting period in the previous year. Along with the trend reversal between 2014 and 2015 in the satisfaction, officers are cautiously optimistic that the community’s view of public toilets is starting to improve.

3. The Group Manager Planning and Development made a verbal presentation at the March 2016 Committee meeting, advising that management intended to close all CBD toilets at night, in order to eliminate damage to the facilities, which has been assessed through monitoring to be almost exclusively a night time issue. The Committee was not comfortable with this decision and requested a reprieve pending community input and further investigation.

DISCUSSION and OPTIONS

4. During March 2016, the public were invited to share their views on solutions for dealing with night-time mistreatment of public toilets. Comments were invited through Council’s Facebook and by email.

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5. The majority of public responses were made through Council’s Facebook page (107 comments received), with a small number of emails (5) also received.

6. Initiatives previously discussed by the Committee, such as locking some or all toilets at night, installing security cameras at some or all toilets, and developing pride through art featured strongly in comments received, as did charging a fee for night time users. Improving lighting, redesigning and upgrading facilities, and improving the cleaning regime received moderate support. By and large, comments were a constructive response to Council’s evidence that by far the majority of mistreatment of public conveniences occurs at night and that night time behaviour was the issue to be resolved.

Response Number for

Number against

Comments

Lock at night 33 1

Several responses suggested locking some but not all toilets at night

Charge a fee to use at night 13 3

Art/ tagging walls and murals – pride and legitimate places to tag

15 0

Install CCTV 31 0

Improved lighting 8 0

Bright Street supervised 24 hour facility 2 0

Asset upgrades 7 0

Improved security 4 0

More and better cleaning 5 0

Other

24 0

A wide variety of comments were made, including providing more facilities for bored youth around the city, stop providing public toilets, partner with 24 hour businesses, find out how other cities deal with the issue.

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7. Lock at night. This is management’s preferred approach, which is well supported by public feedback. Some respondents did note concerns that current users would defecate and urinate in the street in this scenario. Should this option be selected, staff will work with NZ Police, Gisborne Camera Trust and businesses to monitor behaviour and, if necessary review the decision for full night-time closure.

8. Charge a fee to use at night. This solution was proposed by a large number of respondents, but was also strongly objected to by some. It is management’s view that charging a fee for use would serve no benefit, except to provide an additional revenue source for Council (which would over time possibly offset the cost of installing the pay to use infrastructure), albeit with an associated high risk of additional vandalism and theft, due to money being collected onsite. The same risk of patrons defecating and urinating in the street would apply with this solution in the event a patron did not have the money to pay to use. Management does not intend progressing this option, although the possibility of longer opening hours for the Bright Street toilet facility may be considered depending on need.

9. Initiate murals on walls. Art in public toilets came through strongly as an initiative from respondents, and there are case studies where this has worked well in other parts of the country to instil community pride in public facilities. Management will further investigate this option, potentially through discussion with the Gisborne Art in Public Places Trust.

10. A suggestion was also made to provide tagging walls somewhere in town to reduce tagging vandalism of public toilets. This option could be considered as part of a solution to the city’s wider tagging problems, but is not a specific public toilet mistreatment remedy.

11. Install closed circuit television at public toilets. This solution was very strongly supported by the public through the survey. Management is initiating discussions with the NZ Police and Gisborne Camera Trust in respect to using existing central business district cameras to monitor night time behaviour around the Peel Street toilets. There may be the potential to install cameras on the same closed circuit within the Peel Street toilet foyers to monitor behaviour while not intruding on the privacy of users, although there would be an unbudgeted capital cost associated with doing this.

12. Improved lighting. Some comments indicated the importance of good lighting as a deterrent to vandalism of public toilets. Lighting levels will be reviewed for public toilets and upgrades will be undertaken as necessary.

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13. Bright Street 24 hour facility. A small number of respondents suggested that the existing Bright Street pay facility should be open and supervised during the night. This option could result in a well-managed facility on a 24 hour basis, which would effectively resolve the issue if people were prepared to travel to that location. It would be likely that the level of supervision and security required during the night would be similar to what would typically be provided at a bar. This increase in level of service would not be able to be met within existing budget.

14. Asset improvements. Some responses noted that an improvement to the quality of facilities in public toilets would result in better treatment by patrons. As indicated in previous reports to the Committee, an improvement programme to bring facilities up to required standard is underway, within existing budget. The public conveniences plan component of the Community Facilities Strategy will also provide direction in terms of priority improvements later in the year.

15. Improved security services. A few responses suggested greater supervision of public toilets by security services. Council does not currently provide any on-foot security in the central business district at night time (City Watch is daylight hours only) and to do so would be a significant additional cost beyond current Council activities in the city.

16. More and better cleaning. Some respondents targeted the quality of cleaning of toilets. Contractor performance has been closely monitored over the summer hosting period and, other than issues arising at night (outside cleaning hours), cleanliness was not seen to be an issue. It is possible that the cleaning regime could be extended into night time hours, although this would result in extra contractor and potentially security costs to be met by the ratepayer.

17. Other. A large number of other comments were made by respondents. Some of these were constructive and will be investigated further. In respect to a suggestion that Council investigates how other cities respond to mistreatment of public toilets, staff had reviewed how central business district public toilets are provided in seven comparable cities around the country. Four out of the seven cities (Rotorua, Whanganui, Invercargill and Napier) provide 24 hour public toilets in the central business district. Three cities (Whangarei, Oamaru and Hastings) don’t provide 24 hour central business district public toilets, although Oamaru is considering is considering the option for 24 hour facilities as it prepares its public toilets strategy.

18. During March 2016, the Gisborne Herald also surveyed members of the community on whether they thought that Gisborne public toilets should be closed at night. The results of this survey were mixed, slightly in favour of not closing the facilities.

19. In light of the information received from public responses, and to attempt to minimise the level of mistreatment and vandalism of public toilets, management intends to:

Implement a one month trial to close all central business district, Elgin and Lytton public toilets during night time hours;

Undertake consultation with business owners to gather evidence on the impact of the above trial on central business cleanliness;

Monitor through Council’s cleaning team, the impact of the above trial on city cleanliness;

Discuss with the Gisborne Camera Trust and NZ Police their capability to actively monitor the Peel Street public toilets with camera infrastructure already in place in the central business district, should the trial determine a 24 hour public toilet is required, and

Undertake other initiatives stated in this report through the development of Council’s Community Facilities Strategy Public Conveniences Plan.

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ASSESSMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

Criteria This Report The Process

Overall

The effects on all or a large part of the Gisborne district Low Low

The effects on individuals or specific communities the level or history of public interest in the matter or issue

Low Medium

Consistency with Council’s current strategy and policy Medium Medium

Impacts on Council’s delivery of its Financial Strategy and Long Term Plan.

Low Low

20. The decisions or matters in this report are considered to be of low significance in accordance with Council’s Significance and Engagement Policy. The initiatives stated in this report are operational and will better inform Council in its consideration of longer term decisions in respect to the Community Facilities Strategy Public Conveniences Plan, currently being prepared.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

21. Community engagement has been undertaken as described in the body of this report, by inviting public comments through Council’s Facebook and by email.

CONSIDERATIONS

Financial/budget considerations

22. There are no unbudgeted costs associated with the initiatives identified in this report. Additional facility closure, monitoring and investigation work over and above business as usual will be delivered through minor reallocation of existing resource.

LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS

23. No legal implications have been identified arising from this report.

POLICY and PLANNING IMPLICATIONS

24. There are no policy and planning implications arising from this report, although the results of intended actions are likely to contribute to decisions made in the development of Council’s Community Facilities Strategy Public Conveniences Plan.

LEVELS OF SERVICE CONSIDERATIONS

25. Initiatives within this report support Council’s Levels of Service for public conveniences:

“We provide safe, fit for purpose and appropriately located public conveniences that meet the needs of the district.”

Night-time mistreatment of public toilets detracts from Council’s ability to meet this level of service. Trial closure of toilets will provide Council with more information to decide whether a permanent night-time closure of public toilets is the best solution to ensure it can provide safe and fit for purpose toilets that meet the needs of the district.

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RISKS

26. There are no major risks associated with the decisions or matters contained in this report. Risk mitigation around adverse effect on the community (city cleanliness) is in the form of undertaking a trial night time closure of central business district public toilets.

NEXT STEPS Date Action/Milestone Comments

April/ May 2016 Consult with Gisborne Camera Trust and NZ Police about utilising existing central business district security camera network for Peel Street toilet monitoring

June 2016 Assess central business district cleanliness issues with public toilets open at night

July 2016 Assess central business district cleanliness issues with public toilets closed at night

Investigate practicalities and costs of providing a 24 hour serviced public toilet facility at Bright Street, and consider other remedies through the Community Facilities Strategy Public Toilets Plan development process.