Beaumont residents fear $165k toilet planned for Brock Reserve will attract ‘sexual deviates’

A popular walking hotspot could soon have a “much needed” toilet but concerned Beaumont residents worry it will entice “unsavoury characters” and “sexual deviates”.

Residents fear Brock Reserve will be swamped by "sexual deviates". Picture: Burnside Council.

Residents fear a $165,000 toilet approved for a Beaumont reserve would attract “unsavoury characters, drug users and sexual deviates”.

Burnside councillors approved a toilet at Brock Reserve – the main entry point to Mount Osmond Reserve and a number of popular walking and cycling trails – after nearly 80 properties were sent surveys about the proposal.

Trail counters show the area has a “high level of use” with around 7100 visitors each month but there are no available public toilets, a council report revealed.

It would be built close to the Dashwood Road footpath, away from nearby houses and only be open during daylight hours.

“Given the high number of people using this area, and following a request from some users, it is proposed to install a single toilet facility in Brock Reserve,” the report stated.

The toilet block is proposed for near the Dashwood Road footpath. Picture: Google Maps

Cr Julian Carbone said installing a toilet made “simple common sense” as the reserve was an entry and exit point for walking trails.

“We can’t have people, children going to the toilet behind a bush or adults sneaking into the wedding function centre Beaumont House across the road or The Feathers Hotel nearby,” Cr Carbone said.

“This isn’t right, and this isn’t fair.

“We have 7000 local people using these walking trails every month and this is only going to grow in popularity, it’s a hidden gem in Burnside and the secret is getting out.

“When my fiancé was pregnant, we made several emergency dashes to my parents nearby (to use the toilet) when we visited these walking trails, and we were one of the lucky ones.

“If we are going to promote these walking trails and this type of physical activity, then we need to have a public toilet.”

However, the proposal has split the surveyed community with 55 per cent of residents opposing the idea.

The council will install a $165,000 toilet in Brock Reserve to cater for thousands of walkers each month in the area. Picture: Burnside Council.

Some residents argued it was unnecessary, “a waste of money”, would encourage anti-social behaviour, attract “unsavoury characters”, increase local crime and decrease open space.

“(It) would encourage relocation of unsocial behaviour and just another case of wasteful spending and disregard for prudent restrained spending of ratepayers funds,” one resident submitted.

“Complete waste of money. Will be a visual eyesore. Will attract the wrong type of people to hang around it. People doing drugs, sexual predators,” another argued.

“Will be a blight on the landscape. Will attract unsavoury characters, drug users and sexual deviates to the area,” another submission stated.

Others argued it would put adjacent properties “at greater risk of break-ins”, the location was “terrible and will be ugly” and “at odds with the careful revegetating of Brock Reserve”.

“We live right next to the proposed sight, already we have walkers gathering early morning, with doors banging, dogs barking and loud talking,” another submitted.

However, council staff reported some sections of the community could be “disgruntled” if a toilet was not installed, with some residents arguing it was “much needed”.

“I am a walk organiser for the Heart Foundation and I fully support the proposal,” a resident submitted.

“As long as it’s locked at night this is a good idea, it also needs to be cleaned and serviced regularly,” another said.