By Victoria Stone-Meadows
Casey councillor Geoff Ablett and community members from Warneet are kicking up a stink over the state of the toilets at the Warneet Boat Ramp.
Alan Sandford, of Al’s Bait and Tackle, operates his business just metres from the boat ramp and says a lack of up-to-date toilet facilities is causing headaches for patrons of the area.
“We’ve got a lot of kids and women that come down here in the park and on the piers or out on boats and they get back to the ramp and are racing around looking for a toilet,” he said.
“It’s that far away they are struggling to make it, if you know what I mean.”
He said the current toilet facilities have been there for many years and had not been upgraded since they were built.
“They are very outdated and a far away from boat ramp and car park,” he said.
“There is no lighting and no proper disabled access for disabled people down here – we have groups bringing buses down to have a picnic but struggling to find toilets to accommodate them.”
While Cr Ablett has promised to fix the issue, he said the land the toilet sits on is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and not the council.
“I think DELWP should construct the toilet as it is on their land and the lack of a toilet, including disability use, creates a huge hygiene and safety problem that people should not have to endure,” he said.
“It does not meet the needs of Occupational Health and Safety Standards for an area that gets such a high level of use.”
Cr Ablett said he was working with council officers in a bid to pressure DELWP into building a new toilet with disability access closer to the boat ramp.
“I am working extremely hard to get permission from DELWP to get permission to build one,” he said.
“Also to get one designed and built in the next 12 months as it is a disgrace and doesn’t satisfy the Health and Well Being Policy and council has to take care of the welfare of the people.”
Warneet fishing club president Rosslynn Weiske, a regular boat ramp user, said the lack of disabled access to the current toilet block needed to change.
“I think we need disabled toilets because there are a lot of disabled people who go to the pier or have a bit of a picnic,” she said.
“There are at least a few of those minibuses a week.”
Ms Weiske also said that with the sport increasingly popular with women, an upgrade to the toilets was desperately needed.
The Warneet Foreshore Reserve Committee of Management manage the land surrounding the boat ramp in behalf of DELWP and say they were aware of the issues surrounding the toilet block.
“The committee have spoken with the City of Casey regarding this issue, the response was that there was proof required that disabled facilities were required,” a spokesperson for the committee said.
“To upgrade the current facilities would require a large grant or City of Casey footing the bill as the committee do not have the funds required to upgrade the toilet blocks.”
Rod Anderson, Regional Manager, Land, Planning and Approvals for DELWP, said they had not had correspondence from Casey Council, the fishing club or the foreshore reserve committee about the toilets.
“There are currently no plans to upgrade that toilet facility and DELWP has not been contacted about the toilets,” Mr Anderson said.
