Plans to spend $436,500 improving Mitchell Park has split councillors with seven supporting the project and three opposed.

Accessible toilets, a storage facility, a water tap, improved pedestrian access, power outlets, improved lighting, seating, a bicycle stand, improved drainage and new signs are part of a master plan for the park.

A budget of $500,000 was set aside in Whakatāne District Council’s annual plan last year and the improvements were also discussed as part of this year’s long-term plan 2024-2034 process.

Yesterday, the living together committee was asked to approve the capital budget for the improvements to be carried out in two stages over 2024 and 2025.

The most regular user of the park is the Sunday Market, which attracts 45 to 55 stall holders a week and around 1000 visitors.

The owner of the market made a submission to the long-term plan earlier this year about further opportunities to grow the market such as holding night markets and the need for better facilities.

The masterplan for the park, which contains war memorials, will also improve connectivity with the neighbouring Whakatāne RSA.

Councillor Toni Boynton strongly supported the improvements. She said the Boon Street toilets, around 200 metres away, were often too far for elderly, disabled and young children to make it to the toilet on time.

Some councillors were also concerned about children using the Boon Street toilets from a safety perspective because they were out of sight of the market and homeless people used that area.

“There have been safety concerns around children who have left [the market] to go over to the toilets and are not old enough to be aware when there is something happening there,” Boynton said.

She also felt the improvements would be a boost to the local economy, which would help people who were struggling.

Three council members voted against making the improvements at this time.

Mayor Victor Luca and councillors Andrew Iles and Gavin Dennis said the council should not be spending money on this project while it was struggling to pay for basic infrastructure and having to increase rates.

“I think times are tough and they’re getting tougher,” Luca said. “We’re scratching around to do basic things that we need, and as far as I can tell, Mitchell Park is working okay. The fact that people have to walk a few metres to go to the bathrooms doesn’t faze me.”

Iles said he didn’t support it during the long-term plan process and couldn’t support it now.

“We’ve got to prioritise our spending, and we’ve already had to make sacrifices, like putting on hold the seal extension, which is going to affect the level of service for some of our residents.

Dennis was concerned the argument that people could not make it to the toilet would require the council to put a toilet every 200 or 300m along The Strand.

“Do we need to have three or four different toilets at different areas around Rex Morpeth Park? I don’t think that is a valid reason for putting up more toilets. There are many places at the beach where you don’t have any toilets. This is going to cost us a lot of money if you follow that argument.

“This is a classic case of where we should pull our heads in and try to reduce the rates,” he said.
The remaining councillors and deputy mayor supported the plans.

“I think that there’s real value in doing this,” said councillor John Pullar.

Deputy Mayor Lesley Immink felt it was important to improve accessibility for the elderly and people with small children.

"I would suggest that for a couple of the councillors here, it has been a long time since they’ve had a little child on their hand busting to go to the bathroom.

“I think it’s going to add value,” Immink said. “We’ve got lots of other things we can do with it, we’ve consulted with the community on it, the RSA has got plans for the future. For the stallholders and the people who attend there, it’s a really vibrant part of their week.”

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