St Kilda Park Primary School (SKIPPS) community were disappointed that Port Phillip Councillors voted on 15 June to build public toilets metres away from the school. The decision ignores widespread opposition to the project, including the Albert Park MP and a petition containing more than 1,300 signatures.  

Hannah Lawson, Vice President of SKIPPS School Council said, “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)”.  

Hannah also observed that “Council run toilets in the Coles Car Park in Balaclava, Shakespeare Grove and on The Slopes regularly attract anti-social behaviours and are not cleaned and serviced regularly enough to provide a safe facility for the community”.

Five Councillors voted in favour of the proposal, three opposed the motion and one abstained (see details below). The majority decision approves the construction of the public toilet in the selected location near the school, while allowing discussions with Parks Victoria to “see if the toilet block can be moved slightly further north” (towards Princess Street). However, the motion does not guarantee that the toilet block will be moved further from the school. 

The Councillors voting in favour of the public toilets near the school said there is a need for public toilets on Fitzroy Street. One councillor observed Council had attempted to build toilets in18 other locations over a 14 year period but have been frustrated by community opposition and petitions. 

Claire Scothm, a St Kilda resident commented on the decision that “It shows how out of touch some of the Councillors are from the community. Failed to listen. Dismissed the petition and plethora of emails raising legitimate safety genuine concerns. Removed the kids protest notices straight away. No way of guaranteeing the toilets won't be filthy and used for everything but their purpose”.

SKIPPS opposed the proposal public toilets because of health and safety concerns. The petition states that Council has a poor track record of providing clean, safe, and well looked after public toilet facilities, and parents are very concerned that these toilets would present a safety risk to students, families, and wider community members. Importantly parents are concerned the proposed public toilet block will become an unsafe for children because these facilities attract drug users, discarded syringes and other anti-social behaviours. 

SKIPPS advocated for public toilets to be re-located further down Fitzroy Street towards the beach to mitigate the risks of placing it next to a primary school and better meet the Council's stated aim to serve the needs of shoppers and bar and restaurant users, the majority of which are located between Grey Street and the Esplanade. Elisa Webb, a SKIPPS parent said “there is a long history of public toilets being built, and then closed or demolished due to public safety concerns in Fitzroy Street. Inviting these safety issues to the front of a primary school is unwise, with potential legal ramifications, especially as the feasibility studies have not included a formal risk assessment process”.

Listen to the Councillors discuss the proposal at the meeting on 15 June at the 1 hour 39 minute in the webcast https://webcast.portphillip.vic.gov.au/archive/video22-0615.php

Crs Clark, Cunsolo and Sirakoff voted against placing the toilets in the proposed location and to stop the project. 

Crs Baxter, Bond, Copsey, Martin & Pearl voted to proceed with the construction of the new public toilet block. 

Cr Crawford abstained from voting.