Open-look for loos get canned

– Casey Neill
Residents are unhappy with Belgrave’s new public toilets. 36133 Picture: Nigel Clements
BELGRAVE residents have kicked up a stink over a new public loo in the town’s main street.
Several people told the Mail the toilets lacked privacy and were often dirty, but the Belgrave Traders Association has applauded the safer design.
One woman who lives and works in Belgrave labelled the $180,000 upgrade a ‘monstrosity’.
“It doesn’t blend in with the town,” she said.
She said people were ‘disgusted’ at the open design and motorists could see toilet bowls from the street when cubicle doors were left open.
“And this is a tourist town,” she said.
Another objector said many people refused to use the toilets.
“Nobody likes them,” he said.
“They won’t touch them. It’s a lack of privacy.”
He also said maintenance was ‘few and far between’.
“It was five or six days before someone turned up again,” he said.
“It’s just very inconsistent.”
But Belgrave Traders Association president Donna Burgess said the group supported the new toilets. “They were designed with safety principles in mind,” she said.
“Compared to what was there before, these are much better, far safer and much cleaner.”
The toilets were scheduled for an upgrade in the Yarra Ranges Public Toilet Strategy because limited visibility from the street made it unsafe.
The council and Victoria Police representatives met with objectors to the initial new design.
They agreed on a common foyer area, one designated male cubicle, two female cubicles, and a unisex disabled toilet with baby changing facilities.
Ms Burgess said the new design eradicated the antisocial behaviour hidden in the former loos and was better for families.
Lyster Ward councillor Samantha Dunn said parents found it difficult to enter the old toilets with a pram.
“If you were in a wheelchair you didn’t have a hope,” she said.
She said the toilets were cleaned daily and hoped the ‘novelty’ would soon wear off for vandals.
“The graffiti has been very disappointing,” she said.