{"id":618096,"date":"2026-10-02T04:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T04:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/618096\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T04:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T04:24:11","slug":"council-saddened-after-trees-cut-down-arson-at-public-toilets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/618096\/","title":{"rendered":"Council ‘saddened’ after trees cut down, arson at public toilets"},"content":{"rendered":"

A North Island council is “saddened” after several of its public toilets were vandalised over the past week. <\/p>\n

The Thames-Coromandel District Council said toilets in Cooks Beach and Whangamat\u0101 had been hit. <\/p>\n

Damage to the facilities included an act of arson and the “deliberate” cutting down of trees. <\/p>\n

Issues at the Port Rd public toilets in Whangamat\u0101 included littering, vandalism and “inappropriate use of the facility”.<\/p>\n

Council teams have spent the last week responding to the incidents and assessing the extent of the damage. <\/p>\n

\"Litter<\/p>\n

Litter is left behind at one of the public toilets. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

“While the vandalism affects Council assets, the impact is felt by the whole community,” the council said on Facebook. <\/p>\n

“Repairs take time and resources away from other important work, facilities can become temporarily unavailable, and the costs are ultimately borne by ratepayers.” <\/p>\n

It said parks, reserves, and facilities were “for everyone to enjoy”. <\/p>\n

“Let’s work together to keep them safe, clean and welcoming for residents and visitors alike.<\/p>\n

“If you see vandalism or suspicious behaviour, please report it. Anyone with information relating to these incidents is encouraged to contact police. <\/p>\n

“Together, we can help protect the places that make our communities special and ensure they remain enjoyable for everyone.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A North Island council is “saddened” after several of its public toilets were vandalised over the past week.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[9001,111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-618096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-hamilton-waikato","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}