More dunnies are destined for Queenstown Lakes after the council's community and services committee voted in favour of adopting a report which seeks to address the shortage of public toilets in the district.
Photo: 123RF
The district's 62 public toilets are no longer enough for the tourist area due to a rapidly growing population and up to 80,000 visitors a day at peak times.
Those numbers will grow even further over the coming decade, with Queenstown Lakes expected to be to almost 50,000 people in ten years and have peak visitor numbers of 100,000 a day.
The report recommended tapping into the Government's $25 million Tourism Infrastructure Fund to aid in improving existing structures and building new toilets.
"There is currently a shortage of public toilet facilities across the district to cater for the needs of the resident population and visitors," report author Blake Hoger said.
"This has been demonstrated through: communication from various community groups seeking council support to introduce further facilities in their local area; high traffic volumes reported by the NZTA throughout the district; media reports of human waste being discovered in local parks and reserves.
"According to QLDC's growth projections for the next 10 years, the resident population for the Queenstown Lakes District is expected to increase by 29 percent; from 38,000 to 49,000, average visitors per day by to increase by 26 percent; from 25,000 to 31,500 and peak visitors numbers to increase by 25 percent; from 80,000 to 100,000."
The report recommended improving toilets at Glenorchy and building a new block in Shotover County in this coming financial year.
Seven other sites were earmarked for 2019-2022, including Lakes Hayes, Kingston, Isthmus Peak, Luggate Red Bridge, Albert Town and Jack's Point.
