Tawhiti, the Lands and Development Representative of Otawhiwhi Marae, requested permission to plant five kilograms of pingao seeds on the sand dunes of the domain. The seeds represented about 250,000 pingao plants. The marae intended to harvest pingao for cultural and financial purposes. Harvesting would take place annually and would involve seed gathering for an on going planting programme. The Western Bay of Plenty District Council approved this plan.122 Planting was also a means of protecting the sand dunes from any further erosion.
Toilet Block Site
In August 1995 a meeting of the Waihi Beach Community Board was held to discuss plans for the site of the new toilet block at Anzac Bay. Two sites were proposed, referred to as B and C (see figure 10). Site B was central for most users of the domain and was believed to remain dry in winter. Site C was less obtrusive than B, which was considered an advantage aesthetically but a disadvantage from a practical or access viewpoint. Site C was also considered damp in the winter and likely to cause an obstruction of the view for those picnickers who ate while parked in their cars.123
The meeting was attended by a representative from Otawhiwhi Marae, Wayne Tawhiti, who stated:
The area is wai tapu and is within one kilometre of the site. As well, the kaimoana (mussles, (sic) kina, paua) in the channels of the harbour were to be protected under the resource management Act.124
Tawhiti was reported in the Waihi Leader as saying:
He did not understand how the toilets had ever come to be built there in the first place. He indicated the tangatawhenua [sic] want a definite say on where any replacement facility goes. Mr Tawhiti pointed out there are three urupa or burial sites in close proximity of the toilets.125
Tawhiti was told the plans were at the ‘conceptual stage’, despite the fact that the funds had been set aside and the design plan had been secured.126
The Reserves Technical Officer, Doug Green was concerned about the present site ‘because it was three metres from a past slip and there was a possibility of sewerage leaking into the harbour.’ He went on to say: ‘When people come over the hill to the bay the first thing they see is the toilet. I would like it to be the sea.’127 At this stage the issue of where the toilet block would be cited, centred on cultural, health and environmental concerns.
On 20 November 1995, the Western Bay of Plenty District Council reported that:
1.1 In the 1995/96 Budget there is a sum of $85,000 to be used to replace the existing toilet block at Anzac Bay.
122 Reserves Officer to Waihi Beach Community Board, 1 December 1994, Katikati Domain Records, WBoPDC [pp 33-34]
123 Waihi Community Board Meeting, 20 November 1995, Katikati Domain Records, WBoPDC
124 Meeting of Waihi Beach Community Board, 3 August 1995, Katikati Domain Records, WBoPDC
125Waihi Leader, 15 August 1995
126 Meeting of Waihi Beach Community Board, 3 August 1995, Katikati Domain Records, WBoPDC
35