By Jeremy Sollars
BREAKING: The Southern Downs Regional Council says it will go ahead with plans to knock down the toilets behind the Warwick Town Hall “subject to funding being identified in the budget”.
The council released a statement late today (Friday, 27 October), that it had just learned that the Queensland Heritage Council (QHC) decided at its August meeting not to have the masonry toilet block heritage listed.
It is unclear why the decision has only just come to light, but the council says it will now proceed with its plan to demolish the toilets “subject to funding being identified in the budget”.
Mayor Tracy Dobie repeated her earlier statements that the toilets were a blight on the Town Hall precinct, saying they “remain a prime location for crime and vandalism and aren’t accessible by people with a disability”.
“There are several public toilet facilities located within close proximity, including in Grafton Street, as well as amenities available during business hours in the Town Hall, across the aouncil carpark near the Art Gallery, within Rose City Shoppingworld and at Leslie Park,” Cr Dobie said in the council statement.
The Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection recommended to the QHC earlier this year that the toilets not be heritage-listed, after community members applied for listing on the basis that the toilets are with the heritage-listed Town Hall’s ‘footprint’.
The QHC – an independent body of heritage experts – has the final say on listings.
Many in the community – including Palmerin Street business operators – believe the toilets are well-used by locals and visitors to Warwick alike and should stay where they are.
“The process of decommissioning the toilets will now go ahead, subject to funding being identified in the budget,” today’s council statement said.
“When these works were originally proposed there was the opportunity to incorporate these works into the asbestos removal from the Town Hall.
“Unfortunately this opportunity has passed due to the timeliness of the decision.”
The Town Hall toilets are adjacent to Dornbusch Lane, which provides access from the Town Hall car park through to Palmerin Street.
The lane is named in honour of Conrad Dornbusch, one half of the architectural firm Dornbusch and Connolly, who as well as the toilets designed some of Warwick’s other fine buildings and landmarks, including St Mary’s Catholic Church, the Warwick General Cemetery, the Criterion Hotel and some notable homes in town, including ‘Avalon’ on Glengallan Road, the Dornbusch family home in the late 1800s.
