Residents and visitors at Sapphire Beach are being left without access to public toilets after repeated vandalism forced the closure of the local amenities block indefinitely.
The City of Coffs Harbour says the damage has not only disrupted an important community facility, but also placed further pressure on ratepayer-funded maintenance budgets already stretched across the region.
Over the past fortnight, the building has been targeted in a series of incidents involving arson, smashed doors, broken taps and destroyed toilet roll holders. The fire damage melted plastic pipes and plumbing infrastructure, leaving the facility unsafe to use.
Police have been notified while the City assesses the extent of repair and replacement works required.
“It is beyond disappointing to see such reckless damage to a public amenity block,” Mayor Nikki Williams said.
“The fire damage to the building includes plastic pipes and plumbing which has melted.”
The City maintains 42 public amenities facilities across the local government area, with ongoing vandalism adding significantly to operating costs.
“Amenities cleaning and maintenance is one of the City’s largest expenditure items, accounting for a larger proportion of the budget than what is allocated towards bridge and footpath maintenance combined,” City Infrastructure Group Leader Daniel Noble said.
“Unfortunately this is why a lot of these facilities feature robust but harsh surfaces like stainless steel, and it’s also why we do not include soap dispensers.
“The City team has developed some innovative solutions to the issue of vandalism in public amenity buildings such as reinforced toilet roll dispensers and we’re continuing to look for other opportunities to make the facilities more robust.”
The City allocated about $975,000 for amenities maintenance this financial year, with a substantial share spent repairing vandalism damage.
Officials say money spent fixing deliberate damage could otherwise be directed towards improving community infrastructure and public spaces.
“It’s so frustrating that almost a quarter of a million dollars per year could be spent elsewhere. This amount is almost double what we spend on foreshores maintenance at the Jetty and Woolgoolga,” Noble said.
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