Push for Box Hill Central toilets to be reopened

SHOPPERS and commuters using Box Hill Central are calling for the reopening of a toilet block shut down years ago due to criminal activities.

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SHOPPERS and commuters using Box Hill Central are calling for the reopening of a toilet block shut down years ago due to criminal activities.

Located on Main St near the bus terminal, the toilets were closed about seven years ago on advice from Victoria Police to stop illegal activities from occurring inside them.

But Box Hill’s Jaime Fernandes said the toilets urgently needed to be reopened to cater to the area’s booming population.

“Foot traffic has increased tremendously,” Mr Fernandes said, pointing to Box Hill’s new buildings and the increased number of people using public transport.

“If we opened those toilets it would make a world of difference.”

The toilets are Box Hill Central have been closed for years.

Traders such as Blissful Station employee Joanne Yong and Ms Bean’s Jimmy Cheng agreed the two toilet blocks available inside Box Hill Central were bursting at the seams during weekends.

“There are too many people and there can be really long queues,” Ms Yong said.

Box Hill police Acting Senior Sergeant Grant Adams said while the Main St toilets were previously closed due to criminal activities, CCTV footage had played a big role in reducing crime in the area.

Box Hill Central mall.

“In the years since the toilets have been closed, Box Hill has undergone great socio-economic change,” he said.

But despite demands from traders and shoppers, Whitehorse Council’s general manager of infrastructure, Phil Warner, said there were no plans to reopen the toilets, nor build any new ones at the Box Hill Mall.

“There are council public toilets in the nearby Box Hill Gardens,” he said. “There are a number of private developments in the central Box Hill area that provide high-quality public toilets.”

Crohn’s and Colitis Australia communications manager Sonakshi Babbar, who lives in the area, said the long waiting time at toilets in Box Hill Central was a “big problem” for people with Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that affects the digestive tract.