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Do you have a preference as to where public toilets should be located along Hunter St?
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Comment 1 20 Jul 2010, 10:54 AM
Public toilets by nature are not the most attractive of places. However they are required. Public space at the start of the Mall, at the existing site at the end of the Mall and near the Clarendon Hotel would be most convenient. As Hunter street progresses further west the need diminishes at the moment. All new buildings [and indeed refurbished buildings] should be required to instal and maintain public access toilets if even only during business hours.
Comment 1.1 20 Jul 2010, 5:51 PM
Yes we need more toilets. Probably at the top of the mall, the bus stop near the Clarendon, somewhere around Union St and the block near Spotlight. Rather than big toilet blocks that require lots of monitoring, maintenance and cleaning I think adopting the European style of S shaped cubicles would be appropriate and not reaching the ground showing the users feet. They are usually only 2 cubicles one on each side, they are basic, just room enough for one and should be disabled friendly. That is all that is needed, just something easy to maintain, clean and convenient and like Europe you could pay a nominal amount 5 or 10 cents.
Comment 1.1.1 26 Jul 2010, 6:18 PM
Good idea with the simplicity BUT.....what if you were in a hurry to do whatever and had no change.
Not practical these days to have a change machine as they would be vandalized/stolen etc.
Comment 1.1.2 17 Aug 2010, 11:15 AM
Good idea, but without the need to pay. That just encourages more problems
Comment 2 20 Jul 2010, 6:47 PM
Toilets are needed. I agree the suggestion to place one at the west end of the mall is sound. Another should be made at City Hall or Civic Theatre, accessible to the public and signposted. A third must be attached to any transport interchange constructed west of Wickham station. The toilets should be designed for safe and efficient use. Their exterior should suit the location ie the one near the mall should be in character with adjacent buildings.
Comment 3 20 Jul 2010, 8:57 PM
If GPT spend $650 million in Hunter Street, one would hope that Newcastle Council can get them to provide a toilet or two for the public to use. Why are we talking about toilets? Get some progress and investment happening in the CBD and we wouldn't have to worry about toilets and grafitti and crime and.....etc etc etc.
Comment 3.1 2 Aug 2010, 9:48 AM
Excellent!!! Toilets within a shopping complex are typically more family friendly, cleaner and remain functioning. The undesirable element tend not to venture there and one would hope that security would be somewhere nearby within the complex anyway. Never the less security cameras can be installed outside, thus eliminating the problem of more horrendous graffiti and youth running into the toilets with stolen goods!
Any another new public toilet needs to be positioned in a highly populated area. People will not use toilets if they don't feel safe or they are not clean. So within a public place or building is preferable. We do have them inside DJ’s, local pubs, food halls, cafés, the civic theatre, at the end of the mall and more widely located inside the town hall, the picture theatre, at train stations, parks, the library, art gallery, on the foreshore near the ferry and brewery. Generally speaking these are much cleaner that our public toilets.
Maybe centrally near the post office and locked after end of trade hours? Does the Newcastle Information Centre have toilets inside the building?
Comment 4 21 Jul 2010, 7:14 PM
If you want people to come to a place, any place ..., and expect them to stay and enjoy themselves (and eat, drink, spend $ and watch the passing parade, be it an event or just personal promenading)then public toilets are a key element in the activation of a place/ street/ park. Put the public toielts where people gather - there are natural nodes along Hunter Street - public transport nodes, parks, retail areas - make the toilets accessible and clean are good places. And not every one is comfortable going into a pub to use the loo!
Comment 5 26 Jul 2010, 7:50 PM
Surely the best way to decide this would be to perform some kind of traffic survey, see which areas are frequented the most, and put toilets there, making sure there is a roughly even distribution of toilets. My guesses would be;
Wheeler place and/or Civic Park
Several along Honeysuckle
Upgraded facilities in the Mall, Civic Park and the Foreshore
One at the other end of the Mall
Comment 6 26 Jul 2010, 9:59 PM
I am not yet of an age myself where i am that concerned about where public toilets may or may not be. However, where I am somewhere i am familiar with, I tend to make use of the toilet in the nearest pub. Pubs, are after all 'public houses'. There are a few along hunter st - not so many as there once were perhaps. Rather than building and maintaining separate facilities that are not supervised, why not pay the pubs to advertise the existence of their facilities with signage (provided by council) and pay them (or a give a discount on rates etc) for the extra cost and maintenance they would have?
Comment 7 27 Jul 2010, 5:50 AM
Why not utilise the Railway Stations and have toilets at Newcastle, Civic and Wickham, that way we have security as well
Comment 8 29 Jul 2010, 12:37 AM
I think we need to do something about the sad state of the buildings in Hunter St first before we think about adding toilet facilities. We had them there in the first place and then they were taken away in the name of progress. I think they would become another haven for drug users and graffiti-ists.
