Toilets set on fire, doors stolen, graffiti and dumped trash is costing Waikato District Council hundreds of thousands each year on the clean up bill.
Last year’s repair costs for council parks, facilities and graffiti removal exceeded $140,000 by itself, with the true cost likely “much higher” when considering clean up and response costs, a council spokesperson says.
And 2026’s projection isn’t any better.
The spokesperson said council is still collating its full year figures but early indications reveal the problem “remains unchanged” and “continues to be a significant issue across the Waikato district”.
“While council is unable to provide a complete district-wide cost at this stage, contractor costs associated with removing illegally dumped rubbish are estimated to be around $85,000 between January and October 2026,” they added.
“The total cost is likely higher, as responses involve multiple council teams and resources, including compliance, reserves and roading staff, vehicle use, disposal fees and other operational costs.”
The statistics follow a public toilet on Raglan’s Cliff Street suffering two arson attacks in as many days last weekend.
“It’s incredibly disappointing,” Thomson said.
“When things like that happen, and particularly because they happen late at night, I think it actually makes people feel unsafe in our community so that’s a real issue for us.”
Other vandalism acts have cost the council dearly this year. Another public toilet deliberately set alight, this time at Lake Puketirini, cost more than $12,000 to fix, while a stolen barn-style door from yet again a Raglan toilet stung council $1,800 to replace.
Thomson further pointed out toilets at Joyce Petchell Park being vandalised, with rubbish bins and picnic spaces also named as targets.
“We’ve got our amazing staff who go in there first thing in the morning to service our public facilities like the toilets and they’re greeted by this sort of activity… then are we able to repair those quickly because coming into the weekends and into sunny days, Raglan will be busy.”
Bech is confident the 15 new CCTV cameras installed in the district, costing council $278,600, will create a deterrent to vandalism as well as drive boy racers away.
Thomson added it was council’s “dream state” to install more cameras if funding permits, referencing local police are encouraging further investment.
“They were making me aware these activities of vandalism are happening more regularly and they would obviously appreciate more cameras in the community they could access when they’re following up on activities like this.”
“What I do hear is that more people would like more cameras in terms of that community safety.”
Council this year alone has spent $36,726 on minor graffiti incidents.
“We’ve definitely seen petty nuisances tend to basically disappear straight away,” Bech added, referring to the new network.