By Brendan Rees
Dissatisfied and fed-up without a disabled toilet at the Warneet boat ramp, residents have taken matters into their own hands.
Committee members of the Warneet Foreshore have placed a temporary portable toilet at the foreshore carpark to cope with the “demand.”
Since its installation in early June, committee member Thelma Wakelam said “it has had a lot use.”
“It has been many years since various groups in Warneet including the foreshore committee have advocated for an all abilities toilet,” she said.
Meanwhile, she said neighbouring Blind Bight had a “wonderful toilet,” complete with disability access, which was also currently being renovated. “It also has a sealed carpark.”
“Warneet in contrast has aged toilet facilities, which are a considerable distance from the ramp with no toilets for people with disability anywhere in Warneet, and an unsealed carpark which constantly needs grading to even out large potholes,” Ms Wakelam said.
Last year, Mayor Geoff Ablett said he had promised to fix the issue, however said the toilet was on land that fell under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and not the council.
Cr Ablett had been working with council officers in a bid to pressure DELWP, into building a new toilet with disability access closer to the boat ramp.
Council had also erected a large sign that reads: ‘Disgusted by the lack of public toilet at this boat ramp? Complain to the Department of Environment Land Water and Planning on 136 186. Demand an end to the hygiene crisis.’
Alan Sandford, who runs Al’s Boat and Tackle at the ramp and is on the foreshore committee, said although the portable toilet had “resolved a lot of problems,” it was costing the foreshore committee more than a $100 per week to maintain. “That’s just to empty it – that’s not to hire. Until that’s rectified the foreshore committee is out of pocket quite a lot of money,” he said.
“I was hoping that the City of Casey would come to the party and actually pay for it or pay for the cleaning but we’ve seen nothing yet.”
He said the situation was so out of hand that people were using surrounding bushes to relieve themselves.
“It’s a desperate situation,” Mr Sandford added. “We just seem to be hitting brick a wall everywhere; just makes it difficult.
“People come down to have a barbeque in the park, the first that happens is the driver (from a tourism bus) comes over to me and says ‘where’s your disabled toilet? And I basically have to say ‘sorry mate there is none’.”
Hastings MP Neale Burgess raised the matter in State Parliament on 19 September, saying the lack of a toilet facility posed “not only a hygiene problem but an embarrassing situation for adults and children alike.”
“I am calling on the State Government to fix this unsightly and unusable public amenity urgently. Victorians of all abilities should have the right to expect a public toilet in this location,” he said.
Mayor Geoff Ablett and DELWP have been contacted for comment.
