Pallets of surplus council-owned earthquake toilets, stacked on city-owned land behind a quake-damaged Sockburn auto garage, seem to have encouraged rubbish dumping at the site.

The short-drop toilets were stacked beside the VTNZ Main South Rd this year after the warrant of fitness garage was forced to close due to earthquake damage.

Since then rubbish, including a fridge, televisions couch and mattress, has been dumped around the stacks of unused loos. Some of the toilet seats have been ripped off the pallets and smashed.

The dishevelled pile is at the end of the garage's long Main South Rd driveway.

The Christchurch City Council owns the VTNZ site, and confirmed the dunnies were its own and stockpiled on city-owned land.

Council corporate support manager Sue Chappell said the stacked toilets were left over from a consignment of 1000 which the council had commissioned using Internal Affairs funding soon after the February quake.

The toilets were made by Placemakers Riccarton, however by the time they were completed chemical toilets had already begun to be rolled out and had superseded the short-drops.

Many Cantabrians were forced to adapt and defile their backyards as sewerage failed in the aftermath of the quakes. There were many homemade thrones consecrated around the city, some artful and elaborate, others practical and minimalist.

In the chaos, several temporary toilet solutions were designed and churned out by different organisations.

Heavy duty plastic toilet-seat lids to transform buckets into emergency toilets.

Cold composting eco-toilets encouraged by the council.

Chemical toilets handed out by the Civil Defence.

The legions of Portaloos, the remnants of which still line some eastern suburb streets.

The wooden-framed short drops with screwed-on plastic toilet seats was another solution that never made the frontline.

The council stockpiled the toilets at a Toll Tranzlink storage area the council had leased and had given half of the toilets to organisations, including Scouts and the Department of Corrections, Chappell said.

The 1000 buckets which went with the toilet frames were given to the Salvation Army and the City Mission, while some of the frames were dismantled for use as firewood, as the timber is untreated. The remaining toilet frames are likely to follow suit.

''The council is overseeing the disposal of them and is gradually reducing the stockpile,'' Chappell said.

Council staff would restack the pallets and clear the rubbish and debris, she said.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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