Having to clean up the base of St Paul's Cathedral in time for Sunday services after the area has been used as a toilet by revellers the night before does not do justice to the city, cathedral dean the Very Rev Trevor James says.
At yesterday's annual plan hearings, Dr James called for the Dunedin City Council to "put an end to the nonsense" and make 24-hour access to toilets in the Octagon a priority.
The lack of toilets available to patrons who could not get back into a bar or were waiting for a taxi turned the Octagon into a "wild and feral" place, where people "relieve themselves wherever they can".
Unfortunately, that meant the cathedral precinct and the shelter of its shrubbery had become a target.
"It's not good enough. It lets the city down. For $200,000 max we could have a 24-hour toilet. I reckon the city can do that."
With temporary toilets in place during the Rugby World Cup, the "delicate subject" of people relieving themselves could be raised, he said.
