Redfern is short of loos!

Sydney City Councillors Shayne Mallard and Tony Pooley say that the issue is frequently before Council but that it is a case of residents saying, “not in my backyard”.

Mallard says there needs to be a change in the development applications system, giving the Council overriding power to put toilets in, within certain parameters, which would stop Councillors from going weak at the knees in the face of public protest.

Currently, the public is mostly relying on the toilets of pubs and shopping centres.

“You would expect them near areas of community assembly, but there aren’t any... you need to have toilets where there is no obligation to buy anything” said Ross Smith, local resident of forty years.

“Toilets are less available around railways and places where you would expect them to be ... there is one in the train station, but you need a ticket to get to it,” said Tony Pooley.

Shayne Mallard says that the public’s concern is that public toilets in close proximity to their homes may have a negative affect on property values and public safety.

“The perception comes from the old toilet block in the park which was a haven for violence and drugs. These new toilets are 21 st century technology, but the concern still lingers,” says Mallard.

The JC Deceaux toilets are self-cleaning and have doors that automatically open after a designated time period - limiting the opportunity for antisocial behaviour.

In the interim, further concern has been raised for Redfern’s elderly population.

“There is a disproportionately older population in Sydney and we are not providing the public facilities that they need,” said Councillor Tony Pooley.

“Public toilets are not just for convenience, but a necessity. We understand that residents prefer not to live near public toilets but there need to be ways to manage the situation to get public toilets there for the people that need them,” said Paul Versteege, policy coordinator for the Combined Pensioners and Superannuates Association of NSW.

[South Sydney Herald November 2006]