A tale of two toilets

The Westerway Community Hall, where the Derwent Valley
Council will build new public toilets.

TENDERS have been called for improvements to the Westerway Community Hall that will include public toilets and an upgraded kitchen.

The Federal Government will cover half the cost of the $247,300 project, which will see the existing toilets inside the hall replaced with new facilities that will be accessible from outside the building.

These will be the first public toilets in the town, although for some years the Derwent Valley Council has subsidised the cost of a toilet at the Westerway Roadhouse for public use.

The hall at 1571 Gordon River Rd is not a council-owned building but is one of the few community facilities in the town. The council has partnered with the Community Hall Committee to provide the upgrade.

Improvements to the kitchen, including new benches, storage and a hard-wired stove, will increase the capacity of the Westerway Hall to cater for community events and provide opportunities for local gatherings and alternative uses of the hall into the future.

Expression of Interest documents can be downloaded from www.tenderlink.com/dvc and must be lodged by 2pm on November 25.

The Upper Derwent United Hall at Bushy Park, where the
council said it would build public toilets.

The council has not said when it will build the public toilet promised for Bushy Park. In 2017/18 the council allocated $60,000 for a toilet at Bushy Park's Red Hill Cemetery.

During that financial year, councillors decided to move the proposed location to the Upper Derwent United Hall (home of the Bushy Park Market) on Gordon River Rd - either inside the hall or on council owned-land next to the hall - and the 2018/19 budget included an additional $125,000 for the project.

The 2019/20 council budget includes $247,300 for the "Upper Derwent toilet", which is the same amount required for the Westerway upgrade. The budget contains no reference to the Westerway Hall project, and the only funding listed for the Westerway toilet is the $2000 payment for public use of the roadhouse toilet.

The council has been asked for a comment.