and better sightlines, better lighting, increased patrols by Police and Māori Wardens and possible removal of the toilet block. The report also identified a need to increase awareness of and mana of the artwork formed by the park's design and tiles. In early 2021 the City Council, in partnership with Police and other organisations, launched 'The Pōneke Promise', an initiative to make people feel safer in the inner city. As part of this initiative, in 2022 the City Council removed car parks along one side of Te Aro Park and replaced them with a $600,000 timber boardwalk and planter boxes. The stated aim was to increase visibility around the park, make it look nicer, slow traffic and create more pedestrian space. The changes to the park did not address the issue of problems with people loitering in the park. The Council demolished the public toilets in the park in November 2022, saying this would lead to increased vibrancy in the area. The Council announced that permanent replacement facilities would not be built for over a year, probably in 2024, but that it intended to place some temporary toilets in a nearby street within a few months. Oaks complex The wide end of the wedge formed by Cuba, Dixon and Manners Streets and adjacent to Te Aro Park was formerly occupied by the Royal Oak Hotel, but this was demolished in 1979 and replaced by the Oaks complex, which was completed in 1981. The building is made of painted steel, glass and tiles and originally had an airy, plant-filled central atrium. Architects Warren and Mahoney won the overall prize in the Steel Awards of 1982 for their attempt "to recreate a contemporary meeting place using the light indoor/outdoor structure". The building was considered a temporary structure. Tenants in the building have included retail shops, cafes, bars and restaurants, and in 2004, an illegal casino. In 1996 the central atrium area was filled in. A pedestrian overbridge originally joined the complex to James Smiths department store, but it was removed in the late 1990s. In 2011 Wellington City Council published the Wellington 2040 City Strategy which among other things suggested that the Oaks complex could be demolished to make way for a grassed area that would link Te Aro Park to Cuba Mall. The Council's manager for research, strategy, and urban design later clarified that there were no immediate plans to demolish