REGION - Northern Grampians Shire Council is seeking feedback from residents and visitors to assist with the provision of public toilets across the municipality.
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Council distributed a public toilet survey at driver reviver stops during the Easter weekend and is now providing locals with an opportunity to have their say on community amenities.
Councillor Wayne Rice said council spent $300,000 of community money on cleaning and maintaining public toilets each year.
He said a recent assessment had revealed that 50 percent of the shire's public toilet buildings did not meet the required standards.
"As a result, council is reviewing the number of public facilities and the standards they need to be operated at," he said.
"We are particularly interested in finding out who is using the public toilets, how often they are being used and whether there are any peak periods of use.
"This information will help Council establish cleaning service levels, decide on the location of facilities and where upgrades or rationalisations need to take place."
Northern Grampians Shire Council currently manages 24 public toilet facilities across the municipality.
Additional public facilities are located in halls, businesses and council buildings, or are managed by other agencies or organisations.
"It is going to cost an estimated $880,000 to replace five of the council-managed public toilet facilities that are not meeting the current standard. Only five of the council managed public toilets have been assessed as being in excellent condition, with 13 in poor condition," Cr Rice said.
"Public feedback is important and will assist council to target our future expenditure in this area and ensure we aren't flushing community money down the drain."
Cr Rice said residents could provide feedback on council's public toilets by visiting www.ngshire.vic.gov.au or collecting a hard copy from council's customer service centres, libraries and childcare facilities in Stawell and St Arnaud, or the Stawell Leisure Complex. Feedback closes on May 23, 2014.