Katikati sports centre toilet hours spark debate over safety and access

The Katikati Sports and Recreation Centre is being built at the southern end of Moore Park and would include clubrooms and space for indoor sports.

The community-led project is largely being funded through donations and support by TECT, lotteries and Grassroots Trust.

The toilets would be built as an extension to the building.

The council agreed to contribute $272,110 towards these in its Annual Plan 2025/26, with the potential clause that they would have to be open for public access at all hours.

Warren said many local residents and all clubs involved in the project “strongly objected” to the toilets opening 24/7.

He cited three troubling incidents in the past six years.

The football club’s goals were vandalised in March, vandals tore up the cricket turf in February 2025, and a fire ripped through a cricket club shed in 2020.

Warren said the clubs and users of the grounds believed it would be “far safer” if the public toilets were only open during daylight hours.

“Not only for public safety issues, but also in regards to preventing vandalism and unsociable behaviour from occurring at Moore Park.”

Warren suggested CCTV be installed in the area to deter bad behaviour, but said his funding application for this was unsuccessful,

Warren said they would put up their own security cameras for insurance purposes.

Katikati ward councillor Rodney Joyce said he disagreed with the 24/7 opening hours recommendation, adding there were a few public toilets 100m away in Diggelmann Park.

Joyce said knowing public money was being used, council staff wanted to maximise public access.

He said their recommendation was under review and he was waiting on more information to justify it.

Joyce said there was significant demand for public toilets.

“There is a shortage of public toilets in Katikati, but they’ve still got to be suitable for the area. Moore Park is an area that’s not very busy at night.”

During consultation at the park about a development at the end of Beach Rd, the “number one question” was: “Hey, can we have some public toilets on Moore Park please, because you’ve got hundreds of kids playing football, rugby and cricket there.”

He said the plan was to put toilets in the new building and the rugby club at the other end.

“Then Moore Park will be well served because it’s a big park.”

Joyce said there were CCTV cameras set up by the rugby club and funding for CCTV was limited. Warren’s application could be reconsidered next year.

Council reserves and facilities manager Peter Watson said the opening hours of the toilets had not been confirmed.

Construction delays

The community-driven sports centre project has been in the works for seven years, facing delays such as Covid-19, Warren said.

“On the construction front, the new building has been making steady progress; however, things have been delayed recently due to an issue with a structural part of the consent.”

Combined with some supply delays, he said the building restart could be at risk due to rescheduling of the construction team’s availability, he said.

He said the build was estimated for completion at the end of September, if there were no more snags.

Warren said he hoped construction would restart this week.

A quantity survey estimated the cost of the build would be $1.25 million.

“But that was two years ago. Things have gone up in price.

“We’ve raised enough funds to get most of the project done.”

The centre

Moore Park currently caters for football, rugby, cricket, and will add wrestling, martial arts, indoor cricket, netball, futsal, hockey and gymsports when the new centre opens.

The two-story building would feature changing rooms, a cafeteria, a workshop and a storage area.

Upstairs would be the clubrooms, lounge, kitchen facilities and internal and decked viewing areas.

Attached to the clubrooms would be an indoor facility with a sports floor surface. A separate internal area would have wrestling mats and a dojo-style training area.

The toilets would be downstairs, and there would also be parking.

Warren said future plans for Moore Park include a large indoor centre separate from the recreation centre with indoor netball and court facilities that can be used year-round.

– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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