Paddington resident Mary Langley says her suburb has a pee problem, caused mainly by drunken sports fans leaving nearby Allianz Stadium and urinating – or worse – in her neighbour’s front gardens.
But she believes the problem won’t be solved by a public toilet City of Sydney council installed on Oxford Street last week. Langley is among dozens of Paddington locals upset by the loo because they say it doesn’t fit in with the area’s heritage aesthetic and are concerned it could attract drug users.
The new toilet is opposite the famous Paddo Inn.Credit: Oscar Colman
The council placed the new automatic toilet on the corner of a carpark between Mitre 10 and a Telstra communications building on the Paddington end of Oxford Street, with plans to operate the site from sunrise to midnight.
But Langley and her neighbours say the toilet’s design is an “abomination” and a post on a local Facebook group calling it “fugly” has racked up nearly 50 mostly angry comments.
“The issue is heritage,” Langley said on behalf of several locals against it. “You can put it in Blacktown or something, but not in Paddington. It’s just an eyesore … If you’re going to design something for Paddington, surely you’d design something more sensitive.
“It’s incredibly shiny, plonked there as if to say, ‘Look at me!’ It’s shiny, it’s silver, it’s modern.”
An inside view of the accessible automatic public toilets being installed by the City of Sydney across the council.Credit: City of Sydney
The toilet will be cleaned twice a day and it will have automated self-cleaning mechanisms. Once a user goes in, the doors will automatically open after 15 minutes, limiting anti-social behaviour, the council said.
A council spokesperson said public toilets contributed to the city’s liveability and toilets on Oxford Street were requested by the community.
“The site selected was strategically well placed and facilitated convenient access for pedestrians, cyclists and people with disability,” they said. “We always balance the need for these facilities against any community concerns.”
Installation of the toilet on Oxford Street has been more than a decade in the making: in 2014 the City of Sydney identified the area as needing a loo as part of a plan to provide lavatories within 400 metres of any point within the CBD and at all village centres and major parks.
In 2018, a development application was lodged to place one in the current spot by advertising giant JCDecaux, which had a 20-year contract with the city to provide bus shelters and kiosks.
Margaret Deftereos, a former councillor on South Sydney Council, led a petition against the design when the development application (DA) was lodged, saying the site didn’t fit the look of nearby buildings.
The City of Sydney spokesperson said community feedback on the building was “mixed”, which was common for DAs with toilets.
But in 2020, the contract for street furniture was replaced with one from QMS Media, which led to infamously large advertising signs being installed.
At the time City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the contract promised a “complete renewal of street furniture, including 20 new public toilets, 670 bins and 780 benches”.
The criticism of the toilet block prompted Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen, whose seat of McMahon takes in Blacktown, to take to social media to say Blacktown wasn’t a derogatory term.
“It’s a vibrant, exciting community that I’m proud to get the opportunity to represent,” he said. “Sydney is one city. We don’t need you running down the million people who live in Western Sydney.”
City of Sydney’s proposed or planned new public toilets
- Camperdown, Victoria Park, City Road north, opposite Myrtle Street – sunrise until shortly after sunset
- City centre, Bathurst Street (south side), west of Pitt Street – 24/7
- Circular Quay, Alfred Street and George Street – 24/7
- Darlinghurst, Cook + Phillip Park, at William Street and Boomerang Street – 24/7
- Erskineville, park at Erskineville Road and Charles Street – sunrise until midnight
- Paddington, Oxford Street at William Street, near Mitre 10 – sunrise until midnight
- Railway Square, George Street at Quay Street (existing kiosk location) – 24/7
- Rosebery, Liquorice Allsorts Park, Crewe Place, opposite Primrose Ave – sunrise until shortly after sunset
- Walsh Bay, 14 Hickson Road – 24/7
- Surry Hills, Ward Park, Marlborough Street and Devonshire Street (replacing existing facility) – sunrise until midnight
- Waterloo, on periphery of Crystal Park, Crystal Street – sunrise until shortly after sunset
- Woolloomooloo, Cowper Wharf Road, near Brougham Street – 24/7
- Woolloomooloo, Sydney Place Woolloomooloo Playground, Dowling Street – sunrise until shortly after sunset.
City of Sydney
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