PERTH’S CBD toilet shortage is getting desperate and new public dunnies are in the pipeline.  

The lack of public loos is a longstanding issue in the city, with private businesses unhappy at always having to pick up the slack, but there’s been little action taken.

Perth council has an impressive multi-million dollar public toilet plan that’s mostly been gathering dust for a decade. 

At last week’s council meeting the issue came to a head and Cr Brent Fleeton moved a motion saying it was time to find a spot to build a new toilet, rather than follow the council staff’s recommendation to spend another year reviewing the current toilet plan. 

He said the council’s collected some $1.25 million from ratepayers since mid-2018 without actually delivering a new toilet.

“We all know the CBD retail precinct needs something like this. 

Delay

“Given the years of delay and the money taken, I think we should at least start the process to identify a site.”

Cr Viktor Ko seconded the motion, saying new loos would ease the burden on businesses whose bathrooms (or nearby alleyways or shopfronts) are currently being used by non-customers.

Councillors unanimously backed the plan requesting staff find a spot for a new toilet and baby changing rooms around the city mall area, consult with nearby traders, and get building within this financial year. 

The original public toilet plan was ratified in 2012 at a cost of $2.8m, and eventually led to a trial of a pop-up urinal in Northbridge four years later. 

The plan got an update in 2021 as part of the council’s push to be more LGBTQI+ friendly.

That revision included a policy direction to install more all-gender bathrooms like the auto-loos, but that hasn’t yet led to enough toilets being installed.

by DAVID BELL