2.1 The initial design of the toilet has been drawn (copy attached)

2.2 Iwi were invited to consider the proposal at a meeting held on the Otawhiwhi Marae and were satisfied with the proposed sites.

2.3 Progress on the detailed design of the toilet can begin shortly, but before this takes place a site must be decided on.¹²⁸

After having consulted with interested parties about sites B and C, the board then decided to build the new toilet block on the site of the existing block. The board chairperson was pleased with the decision because she did not want to see the toilets in the area of site B because ‘that area is used by heaps of people and cars. It would be a crying shame to see the grounds with a toilet block on it.’¹²⁹ The chairperson preferred the original site below Te Kura a Maia on the foreshore of Anzac Bay. The board endorsed this view and voted to build on the present site.¹³⁰ The decision to leave the toilet on its present site showed a disregard for the expert advice of council staff and an architect:

The board had been told that the present site was not an option because of sewage problems and the local iwi supported the two alternatives proposed. Board members appeared to be less enthusiastic about either alternative.

Starting the ball rolling, Mrs De Luca (Chairperson) said she had looked at the toilet herself that morning and did not believe there were any sewage leakage or erosion problems.¹³¹

Even though the board had already voted on where to build the toilet block there was still talk of discussing the site with the local iwi. The decision to discuss the issue of where the block would be sited after the board had already made a decision raises some interesting questions regarding the consultation process. The board chairperson stated that ‘the Maori people were happy with the toilet block in its present spot’.¹³² This was clearly contrary to what Wayne Tawhiti had said a few months earlier.

Coastguard Site

In late 1991 the Waihi Volunteer Coastguard applied to lease a site for a building in the Bowentown Domain. This initiated a series of public consultation procedures and council and community board meetings. Two sites were proposed.¹³³ They are referred to in the correspondence as site I and site II (see figure 11).¹³⁴

In October 1991 the Maori Liaison Officer, J. Rauputu, visited the Bowentown area and spoke to people from the local Maori community about the proposed sites for the coastguard building:

¹²⁸ Meeting of Waihi Beach Community Board, 20 November 1995, Katikati Domain Records, WBoPDC

¹²⁹ Waihi Gazette, 13 February 1996

¹³⁰ Ibid

¹³¹ Waihi Leader, 20 February 1996

¹³² Waihi Leader, 12 March 1996

¹³³ Preliminary Briefing, Volunteer Coastguard Building Site Meeting, 13 December 1991, Katikati Domain Records, WBoPDC

¹³⁴ Meeting of Policy and Finance Committee, 28 August 1991, Katikati Domain Records, WBoPDC