Vandalism rampage forces closure of Sapphire Beach toilet block

THE Sapphire Beach public amenities block will be closed indefinitely after a spate of vandalism.

In multiple incidents over the past two weeks, the building has come under arson attack, doors have been kicked in, faucets broken and toilet roll holders destroyed.

Police have been informed while the City scopes the scale of repair and replacement works.

“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 amenity facilities across the Local Government Area.

“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.”

In the current financial year, the City budgeted approximately $975,000 for amenities maintenance.

A portion of that is spent on cleaning, and a significant slice of the remainder is needed to effect vandalism repairs.

“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,” Mr Noble said.