Surfers Paradise public urination epidemic sparked controversial debate over toilets and urinals

A controversial solution to Surfers Paradise’s public urination epidemic became a national embarrassment after it was described as an ‘abomination’ which had damaged the city’s reputation.

SURFERS Paradise’s long-running public urination issue came to a head in the mid-2010s.

The Bulletin last week delved into public toilet shortage on the Glitter Strip which dogged the council and nightclub precinct.

Councillors baulked at spending more than $1m to build a “gold-plated” toilet block on Cavill Ave until a decade ago when the levels of public urination reached such levels that it attracted poor press with tourists nationally and internationally.

Desperate to avoid a bad look, councillors in late 2014 voted to proceed with a solution – a three-month trial of open-air urinals which were installed in Cavill Ave Mall the week before Christmas that year.

A Twitter image which went viral showing off the urinals being trialled in Surfers Paradise

They immediately attracted criticism from business owners and tourists for disturbing the area’s amenity.

The urinals, which were made of plastic and had only a small modesty barrier, also provoked immediate outrage across Australia.

Mayor Tom Tate, who was not involved in the decision to hold the $5500 trial, phoned councillors from China to cut short the trial and limit use of the urinals.

Originally open from 8.30pm nightly, they instead were allowed to operate from midnight to down and the trial was cut from three months to two weeks.

Temporary fencing and shade cloths were installed on Christmas Eve that year.

Dylan McCartney was pictured uses the open-air-urinal on Caville Avenue, Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast.

Surfers Paradise MP John-Paul Langbroek told the Bulletin at the time that the urinals were an embarrassment and criticised “ratepayers’ money going on an abomination like that”.

“Surely in the 21st century we can come up with better ways of dealing with issues like that,” he said.

Orchid Ave business owner Craig Duffy, of the Hollywood Showgirls strip club, said the whole idea was revolting.

“I’m actually in disbelief. I thought when I first saw it that it was some sort of Photoshop joke. It’s unhygienic and visually unappealing,” he said. “They should get rid of them immediately before Christmas and New Year.

Tim Martin was among the business owners upset about the situation Picture: Richard Gosling

“The more tourists who see that, the more damage will be done to the brand of the Gold Coast.”

Councillors voted in late 2015 to spend more than $150,000 on hi-tech toilets which rose out of the footpath nightly.

They were installed outside the Sin City Nightclub in a move then-councillor Lex Bell said was “the best result we could have hoped for”.

They were finally installed in 2017 and continue to operate as of 2023.

‘Undesirable clientele’: Disgust over Surfers public toilet issues

SURFERS Paradise residents and business owners were fed up with revellers urinating into the streets of the party precinct.

This frustration, first aired a decade ago this week, was the genesis of a long-running debate over how to clamp down on public urination and make the Glitter Strip more hospitable.

The lack of public toilet facilities drew in everyone from city leaders to business owners and tourists who all had an opinion.

An artist impression of the controversial toilet block.

The debate around toilets has hardly abated, since then with the Bulletin this week revealed the huge damage bill around the city’s toilet blocks. The issue began 14 years ago in 2009 when the Gold Coast City Council announced it would spend $1.1m on a new toilet block on Cavill Ave to replace a temporary structure, something which horrified shop owner Jody McLoughlan.

“There is a bottle shop right outside the block and we are concerned it will create an undesirable clientele, especially during Schoolies in November,’’ she said at the time.

“Retail rents in Cavill Ave are higher than Los Angeles’ Rodeo Drive, and I do not see why we should have our view blocked by a toilet.”

Jody McLoughlan owner of Kids of Oz Shop in Surfers Paradise was furious over the issue.

The price of the toilet block proved highly controversial at a time when the council was struggling to fund or progress other major infrastructure projects.

By 2011, the foul smell in central Surfers Paradise became so bad that then-councillor Susie Douglas was forced to spend $30,000 on temporary toilets being installed in Cavill Ave over the summer to solve the issue. At the time it was estimated they took 6500 litres of urine each weekend

Public urination was a serious issue in Surfers Paradise at the time.

Flash forward to February 2013 and the issue came to a head when new data revealed there were 71,000 people passing through the area each day, yet no new toilet, despite “damning reports on the increase in public urination”.

At the time, then-councillor Lex Bell said he was reluctant to spend such a large amount of money on a toilet.

‘‘Temporary toilets will cost $100,000 and a permanent toilet block will cost $300,000. I will need to establish whether the new toilets will be well used before I jump on and spend the money,’’ he told the Bulletin.

Then-Surfers Paradise alliance boss Mike Winlaw said it was critical to preventing the party precinct from becoming run-down.

‘‘The journey has so far been a very long one,’’ he said.

‘‘The demand is particularly bad at night when the private centres have closed and with the nightclub lockout,” he told the Bulletin at the time.

NEXT WEEK: “TAKING THE PISS”

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