Progress on the new public toilet in Hampden has been blocked over a consent issue with the Otago Regional Council, the Waitaki District Council says.
When questioned by Waihemo ward councillor Kathy Dennison during yesterday's finance, audit and risk committee meeting, council community services group manager Dr Thunes Cloete said the consent process was stalled for the planned $145,000 stand-alone public toilet block due to problems with the proposed "discharge field''.
Yesterday, council recreation manager Erik van der Spek said he was "getting third-party advice'' for the toilets' installation, which was originally expected this month.
"We are still looking at our options at the moment,'' he said.
"Which, hopefully, will give us some independent guidance as to where we're best to go next.''
Mr van der Spek said at issue was the "2m-plus-deep layer of compacted clay'' underneath the site, common throughout the township.
"Obviously, clay doesn't let water seep through it very easily,'' he said.
"It's a very complex site, and it's a difficult site to work within given the potential volumes that a public toilet will produce. It's just one of those things that we've got to work through.''
He said public toilets were not well used if positioned outside towns, and building farther out could affect nearby waterways.
The request for new toilets came from the Waihemo Community Board and the Hampden Hall committee about two years ago.
Council officers considered six sites but the planned location, near the southeast corner of the community hall, on State Highway 1, was preferred.
The hall houses the existing public toilets. Once the new ones were installed, those toilets would remain and continue to be available for hall users.
