By Jeremy Sollars
The public toilets behind the Warwick Town Hall will be demolished after a tense debate at the Southern Downs Regonal Council meeting in Stanthorpe yesterday.
As reported in last week’s Free Times the council released a statement in late April saying the toilet block had been the subject of recent vandalism, as well as complaints about its aesthetics, condition and maintenance and concerns over safety.
The statement also said the toilet block doesn’t meet “best practice standards in accordance with Crime Prevention through Environmental Design strategies” and can’t be locked at night, making it “a prime target for crime and vandalism”.
“This facility is not heritage listed, and in fact the Warwick Town Hall Conservation Management Plan states that the brick toilets have no cultural heritage significance and can be removed, replaced or renovated as required,” the statement said.
Mayor Tracy Dobie was forced to use her casting vote at yesterday’s meeting to resolve a deadlock over the dunnies.
With deputy mayor Jo McNally absent, councillors Cheryl Windle, Marika McNichol, Neil Meiklejohn and Vic Pennisi all voted against demolishing the toilets.
In the pro-demolition camp were councillors Rod Kelly, Yve Stocks, Cameron Gow and mayor Dobie herself, making it four-all.
Cr Dobie then used her casting vote in favour of the toilets’ departure, describing them as an “eyesore” and unsafe.
The council has previously said giving the toilet block the heave-ho would create three more spaces in the already-congested Town Hall carpark.
Southern Downs RANGE resident’s action group chairman Peter Kemp last week told the Free Times he believed that even though it’s a toilet block the building is part of the Town Hall and does have heritage significance.
While the council is unsure when the toilets were built it has suggested the materials and construction point to the 1960s.
Mr Kemp said he understood they could date back to the 1930s ‘Art Deco’ period and had the potential to be a quirky tourist attraction.
“If they were put back to their original state – with proper chain flushing and so on – it would be something that tourists would make a point of using,” he said last week.
“The toilets are part of Warwick’s history and we’ve already lost too much of that over the years.”
