Image by Sean Cummins - see full screen

A message from the School Council Presidents - Hannah Lawson & Elisa Webb

Dear Parents/Carers,

On Wednesday night, despite a petition with over 1,300 signatures and hundreds of emails objecting, the City of Port Phillip Council voted to go ahead with their plan to place a public toilet near the entrance of our school.  

As a School Council we are very disappointed with this outcome and with the conduct of some Councillors in the meeting (particularly Cr Peter Martin, who said that SKiPPS parents need to educate their children more about safety).  

We are not opposed to public toilets, but the location needs to be well considered and we believe that safety standards and cleaning regimes need to be above what currently exists elsewhere in the CoPP.  

To summarise the vote: 

• Cr Bond, Cr Pearl, Cr Copsey and Cr Martin voted to go ahead with the project
• Cr Crawford abstained from voting 
• Cr Consulo, Cr Clark and Cr Sirakoff voted against placing the toilets in the proposed location and to stop the project.

You can Listen to the Councillors discuss the proposal at the meeting on 15 June from the 1 hour 48-minute mark in the webcast https://www.facebook.com/cityofportphillip/videos/836525410663145/ 

We encourage any school families or community members who wish to show their continued opposition to the construction of the toilets at the site to write to the COPP Mayor, Cr Pearl, and the CEO, Peter Smith.

Marcus.Pearl@portphillip.vic.gov.au 

Peter.Smith@portphillip.vic.gov.au 

It is also time to escalate the issue to elected officials at the State level, and we encourage you to contact the Education Minister, the Premier and our Local Member, Martin Foley.

james.merlino@parliament.vic.gov.au 

daniel.andrews@parliament.vic.gov.au 

martin.foley@parliament.vic.gov.au 

The land in question is owned by Parks Victoria, so you can also write to the Parks Victoria CEO, Matthew Jackson, and the Chair, Hon. John Pandazopoulos.

ceo@parks.vic.gov.au 

John.pandazopoulos@parliament.vic.gov.au 

If you have any other suggestions or contacts, please get in touch with School Council via Michelle at

michelle.bove@education.vic.gov.au