Central city public toilets to open 24 hours

Dunedin (Thursday, 17 December 2015) – Dunedin residents and visitors will soon have access to public toilets in the Octagon area 24/7.

The public toilets in Municipal Lane will operate 24 hours a day from tomorrow. The toilets, run by the Dunedin City Council, are already open every day, 8.30am to 8.30pm, including statutory holidays.

Manager City Property Kevin Taylor says there has been much discussion by Councillors, staff and the community over recent years about how and where to provide public toilets that would be open all day.

“It is clear there is a need for 24 hour access in the central city and we are pleased to be able to come up with a solution.

The feedback we get from people who use the Municipal Lane facilities is that they are clean, comfortable and safe so it makes sense to extend a valued existing service.”

Mr Taylor said the extended hours would be a trial in terms of winter hours, which would be reviewed after winter next year to see if 24 hour access was required from June to August.

Security arrangements have been put in place, such as improved lighting and improved CCTV camera coverage of the lane. From 10.30pm to 6am, there will be a controlled entry system.

As well as providing toilets, the Municipal Lane facilities can also store back packs or parcels for the day for $1 and attendants can provide information to help with general enquiries from visitors to the city.

The extended hours will be covered by existing DCC staff and a contractor. Being open 24 hours will cost an extra $54,000 annually, but Mr Taylor says this is a considerable saving on what it would cost to build and run a separate toilet complex in the Octagon itself.

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