Busting for development: Churchill public toilets finally approved after a 30-year wait

At a council meeting on April 28, Latrobe City Council voted to allocate $650,000 from unallocated cash reserves to construct a public toilet in Churchill's town centre. Councilors and a community representative described the lack of public toilets in Churchill as a long overdue decision. 

Margaret Guthrie, a member of Churchill & District Community Association, spoke at the meeting to “plead, urge, implore” that the council approve the construction of a public toilet.

Guthrey said that “to not have a public toilet open during shopping hours is appalling because it has led to the Churchill shopping centre precinct being used as a public urinal.

“I myself have witnessed bus drivers urinating in the little laneway between the Latrobe Community Health Service site and Churchill town hall.”

Guthrey said she had also witnessed people “squatting down between parked cars to urinate because they are in desperate need of a toilet.”

In August 2024 Guthrey said there was a hardcopy survey conducted on Churchill market day that found overwhelmingly the number one issue for residents of Churchill was the provision of public toilets.

The only toilet facilities currently available are in Hazelwood Village shopping centre, which closes after 4pm on weekdays and after 2pm on Saturday and Sundays.

Councillor Leanne Potter said “the lack of 24/7 public toilet facilities at the CBD has been an ongoing issue for over 30 years.

“The delays we’ve experienced have always been about; ‘we don’t have enough money, in time, we’ll consider it at the next budget, when we’ve sold this, when we’ve done that’.

“Tonight you have the opportunity to provide a public toilet in Churchill for the use of all the [shopping] centre users or you tell the people of Churchill district that really you don’t care.”

The decision to allocate the necessary funds to construct the public restrooms only passed by a narrow margin of 4-3.

Councillor Steph Morgen backed the motion to construct the public restroom saying, “it’s a basic amenity for one of our major towns in a growing municipality. It’s about dignity, it’s about accessibility, it’s about making sure anyone who visits the township of Churchill has the ability to go to the toilet when they need”.

Deputy Mayor Sharon Gibson, although in favour of constructing a toilet, opposed the motion, suggesting an alternative approach linked to waiting for the sale of Hazelwood House would address the issue "in a timely but different way".

Councillor Leanne Potter objected to this saying waiting “for the sale of Hazelwood house is not a plan, that’s actually a delay tactic, there’s no guarantee of when the sale will happen and there’s no guarantee the funds will come back to Churchill”.

Image credit: Google.