May 1, 2015
A petition signed by 90 people calling for the demolition of the Coolabunia toilets has sparked great debate on social media.
South Burnett councillor Damien Tessmann mentioned the petition on his Facebook wall recently and sought the views of local residents.
Cr Tessmann expressed the view the toilets were the site of “nefarious activities” and should be removed, but many people didn’t agree with him.
Some people suggested they be tidied up, with better lighting and maybe even security cameras installed: “I often stop there to use the facilities, but they are very dark and spooky”.
Others suggested they be removed and replaced with a better facility; while some just suggested demolition: “Get the Deen Bros in to sort it out”.
“I would never stop there, looks horrible and creepy.”
“Do people really use them? It looks like somewhere a murderer would hang out lol”
Other people said they believed they were used a lot, especially by travellers and deserved a facelift.
“There are lots of travellers using these toilets, there are also overnight camping area, leave them alone.”
But Cr Tessmann was not so sure.
“I have to say I would rather see them removed,” Cr Tessmann wrote.
“There’s no question nefarious activity goes on there because they are away from town and facing away from the road.
“The activity that we all see I do wonder whether it is the kind of activity we should be rewarding by spending upwards of $200,000 by replacing the toilets.
“The other thing is you aren’t allowed to camp there, and those who do take away business from town. They are too far away from town for people to have a base there anyway.”
One commenter noted that the toilet block had no reliable water supply and the water tank had to be kept full by council or water carters. He also suggested that effluent ponded in the area, particularly during rainy periods.
When southburnett.com.au stopped at the rest area today, we found a couple from Blackbutt enjoying lunch at one of the picnic tables.
We asked them if they thought the block should be demolished. The answer was an emphatic “no!”.
However, they seemed stunned when we suggested Council could spend up to $200,000 putting in a new block: “What are they going to do, gold plate the taps?”.
We asked if they had ever had any bad experiences at the site, and the answer was “yes – we lost a wallet containing $700 cash”.
But the good news … a traveller from Sydney found the wallet at the toilets and handed it into police so they had received their money back.
