The Horowhenua District Council have bike stands for us, at last. There was a supply chain delay, as is so common these days, but finally they are about to be installed. One stand will go by the footbridge, and that area of the road has been marked off and blocked off. Installation should take place before 03 June 2022. The other stand will be placed near the toilet block, once work there is complete.
The focus of toilet block work at the moment seems to be concrete. There’s boxing in place around the building. Apparently too the floor needs to be raised: more at one end than the other. I’ve doctored a couple of the photos below to remove some juvenile graffiti.
The builders have been hard at work this week. The pump house has been removed, and plumbers will soon get to work. There is boxing ready for the concrete path. Apparently the floor level of the existing structures needs to be raised, and the walls will show an increase in height to match.
Workers have been busy this week, primarily taking out an old 'cobblestoned' concrete path and preparing things for more accessible ramps. There has also been more trenching and dealing with pipes for services such as water and power. Seeing this work go on, what sprang to my mind was "Why didn't they just knock the whole thing down and start again?" I put this question to Stephan Titze, Parks and Property Project Lead at Horowhenua District Council.
News today from Deborah Campbell, District Coordinator, Horowhenua Neighbourhood Support from Horowhenua District Council: From Monday 9 May we will be trialling a collection of batteries, lightbulbs & beverage cartons Collection bins will be located at Council’s Civic Building and at Te Whare Mahana Community Hub on Bristol Street, Levin. Lightbulbs & batteries have valuable parts that can be recycled. They will be sent to Interwaste to begin their recycling journey.
I forget when I first noticed the Heritage Trail sign along Waikawa Beach Road (near number 560) but I know it’s been there for a number of years. Or at least it was there. Round about May 2021 a car crashed into the nearby fence which knocked the sign off its posts and broke the perspex covering it. Some time later (months) the broken sign was removed. I emailed Horowhenua District Council in about March 2022 asking when the sign would be restored.
There's been quite a delay since we last saw any noticeable progress on the toilet block. Initial delays were Covid-related. Then of course, we had public holidays. Work is continuing now with supplying services (water and power) to the new facilities, with trenching and pipes going in. As always happens with building projects, there’s also a need for the architects and engineers to sort out a few details. Photos below from late afternoon on 04 May 2022.
It’s been a while since I’ve spotted anyone working at the toilet block. The original delay was because of Covid, and presumably that continues.
However, a trench has been dug across the floor recently, as the photo shows.
Just a reminder that back at the end of March the builder did advise: The next steps will be - sort trenching for the new plumbing in the toilet area. - Set up for the new foundations, posts and floor to the BBQ area.
Local body elections are to be held on 08 October 2022. This year things are changing, with the addition of a Māori Ward: Representation for the 2022 Local Government Election announced: The [Local Government Commission] determined that the following representation arrangements will apply: Number of wards There will be five wards, including four general wards and one Māori Ward. Number of Councillors The Council will comprise the mayor and 12 councillors elected as follows: 10 general ward councillors elected from four general wards and Two Māori ward councillors elected from the Māori Ward.
It’s good to see work start up again on the toilet block. Yesterday and today a little extra demolition and ‘tidying’ of the site has taken place and workers have been checking measurements and making other preparations for construction.
The digger will be back for a few more bits of work before construction proper can begin.
Unfortunately someone has taken to a couple of the walls with yellow paint, creating some rather juvenile graffiti.
New dispenser. Old dispenser. For as long as I’ve been visiting or living at Waikawa Beach there has been a boxy green dog poop bag dispenser on the fence at the Manga Pirau Street beach entrance. Back in 2013 it was very fresh and new looking, but in recent weeks it was literally held together with string (and perhaps chewing gum, but I didn’t check). Shiny new green dispenser in 2013.
Deborah Campbell, District Coordinator, Horowhenua Neighbourhood Support emailed today: On Friday Council issued a Glass recycling notice for the Horowhenua District that come into effect today Monday 28th March [2022]. This has been issued because of the impact that Omicron is having on the Recycling Station. Horowhenua District Council Temporary change to glass recycling All kerbside glass recycling collections will temporarily stop from Monday. This is due to the impact of Omicron on the sorting facility we send our recycling to.
Today the builder advised me of next steps in the toilet block rebuild:
Demolition has been completed Engineers first inspection has been carried out and the Ok has been given to proceed Our contractor is approximately 1 week away from starting onsite, this delay is 100% due to covid isolations The next steps will be - sort trenching for the new plumbing in the toilet area. - Set up for the new foundations, posts and floor to the BBQ area.
Work on the toilet block seems to have come to a halt by the end of Week One (18 March 2022). During Week Two the demolition materials were removed but nothing else seemed to be happening.
I enquired about progress, and as I feared, it seems Covid brought about delays. Work is expected to begin again in Week Three, starting 28 March 2022.
Photos below of the cleaned up site.
Facility Under Construction poster. By the evening of Friday 18 March 2022 the toilet block had been almost completely demolished, and much of the surrounding concrete dug up and removed. It’s not the intention to remove everything, as the shell of the women’s block forms the basis of the new work. Just a couple of representative photos today.
The pump room, but little else from the men's block remains. The women's block has been hollowed out.
I enquired about several roped off areas of bare earth at Driscoll Park in Manakau — a handy place for a brief stop along the road between Levin and Ōtaki. The HDC replied that seats that were requested by the community are finally being installed.
If you haven’t visited the park while out and about on errands, I recommend it for a respite.
A gap at the top of a concrete wall. The top of the women's block. I guess Day Three of the toilet block demolition was mainly about concrete — a resident of Cathryn Street told me the jackhammers had been going all day. There were certainly piles of concrete rubble lying around at close of day. Men's block with more wall removed. Concrete flooring has been dug up. Inside the women's block: roofing iron.
By the end of Day Two of the Hank Edwards Reserve toilet block demolition and rebuild things were looking pretty bare. The women’s block now has no roof and most of the interior has been gutted. Concrete around the buildings has been torn up, to allow for a new accessible set of ramps.
Rubble and building remains from the south side. A thick slab of concrete amongst other rubble.
The remains of the Men's block. Promptly on the morning of Monday 14 March 2022 Lee Builders began the work of demolishing parts of the Waikawa Beach toilet block in Hank Edwards Reserve. The men’s block was the first target and work went very quickly. By the end of the afternoon only the pump house was still standing.
Portaloos for public use have been delivered, and the AED Defibrillator was installed outside the safety fence.
Two brief videos hosted on YouTube. 1. 12 seconds: toilet block demolition day one: a wall comes down. Shows a digger pulling down a wall.
2. 08 seconds. Shows a digger pulling off the roof.
Men's toilet block partly demolished. The demolition of the Hank Edwards Reserve toilet block began promptly on Monday 14 March 2022. The perimeter fence was quickly erected and the men’s toilet block was knocked down. Some neighbours had asked for and were given a few specific concrete blocks as mementos and the wooden Men and Women signs with sunbursts were saved for the Ratepayer’s Association archives. Sign for women's toilet, with sunburst.
The first materials have arrived for the Hank Edwards Reserve toilet block construction project. A bit meta: the safety fencing materials are in a small fenced off area, ready to be used.
Proposed front view of the refreshed toilet block. The Horowhenua District Council is about to begin the refresh of the Hank Edwards Reserve toilet block and wants the community to know what to expect.
Work should begin from 14 March 2022 and it’s hoped to complete it by 08 July 2022. One really important point though is that Covid–19 could take the project off-track in two ways: a] Supply chain problems.
Good to see the Horowhenua District Council mower trimming up a metre or so of the grass verges on 04 March 2022. It came down Waikawa Beach Road, Strathnaver Drive and Reay Mackay Grove, and I suspect, Emma Drive and the others in that area.
Toilet block view from Manga Pirau Street. Source: Horowhenua District Council. The toilet block at Hank Edwards Reserve was built in the 1960s or 70s and is more than showing its age. While it’s a step up from no public toilets at all, it’s pretty awful to use, smelly, with endlessly leaking or overflowing toilets and with rusting and crumbling parts. After a lot of preparatory work and consultation Horowhenua District Council have let a contract for the toilet block to be overhauled and modernised.