There is no “quick fix” to the filthy fallout of Wagga CBD’s lack of public toilet access at night, according to city leaders.
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However, former Wagga Mayor Kerry Pascoe said suggestions would be welcomed.
It follows a “crappy” reveal last week, with Baylis street and Station place professionals sharing harrowing accounts of mornings spent cleaning urine, rubbish, vomit and sometimes faeces from their properties.
They said it was not a rare occurrence, as intoxicated residents used their land, near the taxi rank, as a bathroom substitute on weekends.
It is the reason Station place business owners backed a call for after-hours access to public toilets close to the main street.
“There has been a lot of discussion over a period of time,” Mr Pascoe said. “I am aware the problem happens quite often up that end of town.”
But Mr Pascoe said there was no silver-bullet fix.
He said if public toilets were made available into the night, they would be subject to vandalism and may not solve the problem at all.
It is the reason Wagga City Council last week said it shut its three Baylis Street public toilets before 7pm.
“What’s to stop people dirtying (after-hours) toilets?” he said.
“Someone has to clean them and then if they are messed up, people will go elsewhere anyway.”
In a candid statement, the former mayor said: “People are going to do what they are going to do”.
Despite this, Mr Pascoe said he would welcome alternate ideas.
“If someone has a good solution, I’d like to hear it,” he said.
“If I thought it had merit, I’d take it to council to have it investigated.”
The sentiment was shared by current Mayor Greg Conkey, who said it was an issue council needed to address.
“Maybe we need to go back and have that conversation with the community and within council walls,” Mayor Conkey said
“I understand it’s a problem.”
He said an option to consider would be to make an ear-marked public toilet building at Victory Memorial Gardens available 24-hours.
“Whether we do that or not is another question,” Mayor Conkey said.
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