Protests Flushed Away

In 1920, the Mayor of New Plymouth proposed building a men’s public toilet smack bang in the middle of Brougham Street. Objections came pouring in from local citizens. "Lady clerks and assistants are employed in at least ten different offices… in Brougham Street” objected Francis Corkill, who worried about the indecency of women and children encountering men entering or exiting a toilet. He also had grave concerns about “offensive noises” and “objectionable smells” rising from the facility. Nurse Florence Williams feared the toilet would be “a source of danger to the health of the children and babies” on their way to the Plunket Rooms, while others thought women and children would have to avoid the street entirely in order to prevent immodest encounters. Of secondary importance was the possibility that pedestrians on their way to the toilet might be run over.

The matter ended up in the Supreme Court, and the Mayor mounted a strong defence. Toilets in the middle-of-the-road were all the rage in the 1920’s, and nearly twenty-five photographs of them, like the one shown here from Auckland, were submitted with commentary from sanitation experts and civil engineers. The experts insisted the toilet in Brougham Street, near where Chaos Café is currently, would encourage people to drive on the right side of the road and would in no way be offensive. A strong electric light would make the facility clearly visible, modern fans would purify the air and silent flushing mechanisms would ensure a peaceful environment. The Judge ruled in favour of the Mayor. The ‘Public Convenience’ was built. It has since been paved over, but the underground portion of it remains buried under Brougham Street to this day.