The old public toilets at Boomerang Park in Raymond Terrace could be renovated or ever re-purposed rather than demolished.
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Port Stephens Council had intended to demolish the brick and tin clad toilet block at the top of the park with a new facility already under construction next to the playground.
That was until Raymond Terrace Parks, Reserves and Tidy Towns asked the council to reconsider the move.
“Although there is value in having facilities at the new playground, members of the community want the current facility to be saved from demolition as it is providing a much needed community service in a park that is developing more facilities to increase its patronage,” Tidy Towns advisory member Coral Berry said.
New toilets for the park were first discussed in January 2014 in the development of the Boomerang Park Master Plan, last updated in April 2016.
The council wished to demolish the toilet on safety grounds.
While it was once “desirable” to build public toilets in areas out of site, the council said modern “safer by design” guidelines, endorsed by police, favour more visible locations to discourage certain behaviors.
A report prepared for councillors to discuss the matter noted it was “not uncommon” for cleaners to find disposed needles and “latex-type protection products” on the floor of the toilets at the water tower lookout.
Cr Peter Kafer, with the Tidy Towns committee, brought the matter to the council meeting for discussion.
“When I was a policeman I used to know where all the ‘beats’ [homosexual meet-up points] were,” he said.
“But any public toilet can be used for that purpose. It’s a spurious argument.”
Cr Kafer said the addition of new attractions to the park like a planned fitness trail and croquet court warranted more toilets, “not less”.
Among the additional facilities planned for the park are a boccie court that Cr Kafer gained support for at a February council meeting.
“All of these things are happening at the park, the last thing we want to do is close this toilet down,” he said.
The Tidy Towns committee has said its volunteers could alternatively use the building for equipment storage if it’s not going to be used as toilets.
Cr Geoff Dingle said the idea had merit.
“The building is quite solid,” he said.
“It would be disappointing not to look at the other options.”
Council resolved to reassess the demolition plans and to conduct a site inspection involving police and council officers.
