UPGRADE works for Waikerie’s McCoy Street public toilet block are still “on the table”, and the council CEO says the project is “intertwined” with the Waikerie Institute upgrades.
The decision was followed by an announcement of Loxton’s public toilet upgrades funding of over $600,000, including television screens, seating, and landscaping.
However, the District Council of Loxton Waikerie (DCLW) CEO David Beaton said the Loxton public toilets have been “terrible” for 20 years, while the Waikerie McCoy Street toilets project was originally thought to cost “much less”.
“There has long been a need to rebuild the Loxton (toilets), and the original budget for the Waikerie (toilets) was in the order of $20,000 to $50,000,” he said.
“Now, council has gotten a (design plan) back with an estimate of several hundred thousand dollars – significantly more than expected.”
Loxton’s East Terrace public toilet block $685,000 budget was announced Monday, July 22, while the Waikerie public toilet working group continued to discuss options for the project.
Mr Beaton said the Waikerie toilets were originally due for a refurbishment, while the Loxton toilets was a full rebuild.
“One is a completely new toilet, and one is a toilet that fundamentally works alright but has had issues with odour,” he said.
“(Council) was going to do some relatively minor upgrades to (the Waikerie toilets), but now it’s come back with a much larger bill.
“There’s not a non-commitment to do the Waikerie toilets; it’s about trying to make the best decision about the Waikerie toilets.
“The other thing with the Waikerie (toilets) is (council) has been looking at upgrading the Waikerie Institute as well – and the two projects are intertwined.”
The Waikerie Institute is situated at the bottom of McCoy Street next to the public toilet block, and is currently under a $70,000 kitchen renovation.
Mr Beaton said council is trying to cost both Waikerie projects to work out what priorities need to be done for the Waikerie Institute.
“The institute is only on a rainwater tank and it’s never had toilets or (been connected to) SA Water,” he said.
“Because (council) wants to upgrade the kitchen, it needs to work out how to get rid of the waste water from the kitchen.
“Council is trying to cost up (both projects) to work out what it can do and what becomes a priority – what needs to be done to the institute – before making a major decision about the toilet block.
“No one wants to put (the Waikerie toilet upgrades) off, but it’s better that the project lie on the table than people say ‘no, we’re not doing it’.
“It’s not a ‘no’, it’s ‘we need to think about it a bit more’.”