24 October 2024
File Ref: IRC-7115
James
[FYI request #28430 email]
Tēnā koe James,
I refer to your email dated 18 September 2024 to Te Kaunihera o Pōneke | Wellington City Council
(the Council). You requested the following information:
1. The number of Gender neutral bathrooms/changing rooms at WCC head office.
2. The number of gender neutral bathrooms or changing rooms installed if any, between 2022
and September 2024 by WCC (please provide locations)
3. The total costs if any, of gender neutral bathrooms/changing rooms installed during the above
dates (please provide the cost for each individual bathroom/changing room and its location)
4. Please provide the details of any approved gender neutral bathrooms/changing rooms that
are yet to be built (costs and location)
Your request has been considered under the Local Government Of icial Information and Meetings Act
1987 (LGOIMA).
The scope of your request has been limited to not incl
ude accessible toilets which are commonly
designed to be fully accessible for everyone, regardless of gender. More information about accessible
toilets can be found in the link above.
Background Information
The Council’s Te Awe Māpara -
Community Facilities Plan was adopted on 23 November 2023. The
purpose of this plan is to guide the Council’s provision of and decision-making about community
facilities for the next 30 years.
The mission of this plan is “
Thriving and accessible community facilities – where people connect,
have fun and belong”, with one key outcome being “
We show respect, generosity and care for others.
We are good hosts and strive for our facilities to be accessible, equitable and inclusive for all”.
Page 62 of the Te Awe Māpara - Community Facilities Plan outlines the core components of fit-for-
purpose facilities in order to guide future provision, with page 63 confirming the provision of all-gender
amenities to enable everyone to use community facilities.
Question 1 –
The number of gender neutral bathrooms/changing rooms at WCC head office.
The Council’s head office, Tahiwi, located at 113 The Terrace, has two gender neutral bathrooms
available, alongside four gender neutral changing rooms.
Questions 2 and 3 –
The number of gender neutral bathrooms or changing rooms installed if any,
between 2022 and September 2024 by WCC (please provide locations) and the total costs if any, of
gender neutral bathrooms/changing rooms installed during the above dates (please provide the cost
for each individual bathroom/changing room and its location).
Financial
Number of
Year
gender neutral
Location
installed
bathrooms
Cost
Pukehuia Park
Playground, Newlands
2022
2 $221,927.00
Botanical Gardens – Main
Gardens, Kelburn
2022
5 $357,027.30
Shed 6 Toilets – Queens
Wharf
2022
3 $306,463.01
Victoria St Temporary
Toilets, Te Aro
2023
4 $192,253.32
Basin Reserve, Mt Cook
2023
3 $377,720.73
Frankmoore Ave,
Johnsonville
2024
2 $150,000.00
Please note:
• The costs above are inclusive of the entire project to construct these bathrooms and include,
but are not limited to, design, materials, and construction.
• Information held relating to changing rooms, which can be found within some of the Council’s
sportsgrounds, has not been provided as the Council’s sportsground changing rooms are not
specifically labelled as ‘gender neutral’ as per your request, but rather these are available for
use by all teams, regardless of gender identity. Any team c
an book and use these facilities.
Question 4 –
Please provide the details of any approved gender neutral bathrooms/changing rooms
that are yet to be built (costs and location)
As part of Te Whare Whakarauika - th
e Town Hall redevelopment there wil be a total of four gender
neutral changing rooms, all of which include a toilet.
Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui, our
Central Library, wil have a total of nine gender neutral changing rooms
with showers, as well as 35 gender neutral toilets.
With respect to the costs associated with the above, these are part of overall construction costs and
not broken down to the level of specificity required to answer this part of your request (e.g. cost per
cubicle). We are unable to confirm this information and therefore this part of your request has been
refused under section 17(e) of the LGOIMA as the requested information is not held.
Outside of the above, the following locations wil also include gender neutral facilities:
Inglewood Place toilets - there will be six bathrooms which wil be gender neutral: two standard toilets,
three accessible toilets with baby changing facilities, and on
e Changing Places facility. This is a
significant project and supported by the Council’s
Pōneke Promise safety initiative. The current
forecast for the Inglewood Place toilets is $2.25m, and includes costs such as consenting, project
management, and physical works.
The Ian Galloway Park planning and public toilets project, mentioned on page 27 of the Council’s
2023/2
4 Annual Report, wil be commencing this year which wil include two gender neutral toilets.
As this project has not yet commenced, final project costs have not been confirmed therefore we are
refusing information relating to the costs under section 17(e) of the LGOIMA as the requested
information is not held.
You have the right, by way of complaint under section 28(1) of the LGOIMA, to request an
investigation and review of the Council’s decision to withhold information by the Ombudsman.
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Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
If you require further information, please contact
of [email address].
Nāku noa, nā
Ollie Marchant
Senior Advisor
Of icial Information & Privacy
Wellington City Council
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