In recent days there has been some commentary from the community about the public toilets at St Mary’s Church after a notice was posted on site saying Council would no longer clean the facility after 31 December.

The toilets located on the church grounds are a St Mary’s Church asset. For many years, Council has cleaned and maintained the toilets alongside its lease (from the church) of the building that is now the former Visitor Information Centre building near Subway.

There was no formal agreement between Council and the church for the toilet cleaning and maintenance and this was an additional cost covered by Council.

Our current cleaning program will remain in place daily until Boxing Day, and twice daily from Boxing Day to 31 December as part of seasonal increase in the cleaning schedule.

As part of the end of lease discussions with the church, Council advised the cleaning and maintenance would cease when the lease did. The cleaning, maintenance and repairs of the church toilets are significantly higher when compared to Council owned public toilets. They are vandalised on a regular basis and Council has regularly replaced entire cisterns and other components as a result.

In these discussions, the church has acknowledged the toilets are in a poor state structurally and that they require significant investment to replace the roof and other parts. Keeping the toilets open is a decision for the church and their tenants in this church-owned retail complex.

There are multiple other public toilet options within the CBD, including both Council-managed and private businesses.

Council is currently undertaking a review of public toilets across East Gippsland, covering more than 114 different locations where Council has facilities. For more information and to provide your feedback on Council-owned public toilets visit Public Toilets Review - East Gippsland | Your Say East Gippsland.

‍