It seems no-one wants to spend a penny in Te Anau.
A paid toilet in the tourist town was leading to anger from businesses and people relieving themselves in bushes and behind trees.
A Southland District Council meeting this week decided to can the paid toilet and let it be free of charge.
A paid toilet — price set at $1 — was constructed in the town in 2010 to cater for tourists.
It had an aim of servicing 200,000 users to break even but never got close.
The toilet had become a big stink in the town and was a victim of the cashless society.
The council heard at the meeting from disgruntled business owners who were having to deal with tourists every day looking for change or to use the business bathroom facilities.
Service station owner and Fiordland Community Board chairwoman Diane Holmes said the toilets were not open at the right time. When the buses arrived to go to Milford Sound they were closed. The toilets were open from 9.30am-12.30am and 3pm-5pm.
"All the businesses in the town have the same issues — tourists asking for change, tourists asking to get money out, tourists asking to use their toilet," she said.
"My business is a service station and we have people coming in all the time to use our one free magical toilet. One of our staff has ended up designing a nice map which shows all the toilets in the town. It sits on our counter to help them find the toilets."
She said tourists had 20-30 minutes in the town before heading to Milford Sound.
"We have these great picturesque scenes in the town beside a magnificent lake — stunning. The tourists, instead of looking at that, spend their time wandering around the town looking for a toilet."
The nearest free toilet from the paid toilet is a 12-minute walk from where buses stopped.
Many tourists do not make it to the pan.
She had spent many times walking around Te Anau parks only to see men clamouring out of bushes and dashing away from hedges. She had to pick up waste in a small space by their garage.
"Even worse they are peeing on the back of the peeing toilets."
She said businesses were sick and tired of the situation and change was needed.
The council agreed and would make the toilets free. It is hoped the changes would be done in a few weeks.
The toilets would be free and set to be open from 8am-8pm while a charge would remain for the showers.
