New toilets well received

Gary Anderson checks out the "flash" new public toilets in Cromwell. Photo by Sarah Marquet.

Cromwell business owner Gary Anderson reckons the new Lode Lane public toilets are "flash" and much better than the "heinous" 25-year-old ones that were demolished.

The recently completed $350,000 toilets and adjacent bus shelter mark the beginning of a multimillion-dollar redevelopment of the Cromwell Mall, more than 10 years in the making.

Mr Anderson was just one of "a whole lot" of people who had been pushing for a toilet upgrade for "quite a while".

"They are the first point of contact with Cromwell for a lot of people so it's got to make a good first impression," he said.

The new toilet block provides five unisex toilets, including one that is wheelchair accessible.

The toilets and bus shelter are screened by steel, designed to rust over time, with cherry leaf cut-outs that will be backlit at night.

They were expected to be completed by the end of July but the project was delayed because of steel supply issues, Central Otago District Council property and facilities manager Mike Kerr said.

He said the asphalt around the area was temporary and landscaping would take place about April next year.

Tenders were expected to be called for the landscaping project next week but the work would be deferred until well after the holiday period to avoid disruption to mall users, he said.

The Cromwell Community Board has budgeted $753,805 for this financial year to landscape the northern entrance to the town centre, including around the toilets and bus stop.

The toilet redevelopment was done as a separate, district-wide-funded project.

Mr Anderson said he was looking forward to the five-year mall redevelopment being completed and hoped it would breathe new life into the mall.

He said there were always people in the outer mall area but almost no-one inside.

But, "once we get a designated entrance to the mall, it will all be tickety boo".

sarah.marquet@odt.co.nz