Residents Divided Over Toilet Block Plans for Malabar Rock Pool

Despite a public consultation two years ago, residents are still divided over the plans to construct a toilet block near Malabar Rock Pool. Some locals who oppose the construction have petitioned to drop the project.

Elizabeth Lloyd, who started the petition, believes that there must be other priorities for improving the pool facilities, such as fixing the pool pump that repeatedly breaks down, than a toilet block.

Ms Lloyd is a regular swimmer at the ocean pool for two decades. She said that if there is a toilet block closer to the pool then more people will be encouraged to stay longer.

The locals are concerned that this will create more pollution and garbage, affecting the fragile ecosystem around the pool area. There has been some precedent to this concern because they had to clean up after people who illegally camped out in the area overnight last summer.

Regular pool users also do not want the new toilet block to “compromise the sparse parking space at the lower carpark.”

The nearest toilet facilities are either at Cromwell Park, some 700 metres away, or at the Randwick Golf Club. Still, some residents said they need the toilet block near the Malabar Rock Pool.

“The pool is for all to use not just locals. The nearest public toilets are at least 300 metres away at the beach. Parents can’t walk children there and back in the summer heat,” one resident said.

Randwick City Council has allocated $360,000 to build the toilet block, which gained favor from over 70 per cent of the respondents during the public consultation in July 2020. Council is currently undertaking the design work to develop a concept plan for such amenities. A public exhibition of the toilet block’s design is expected to be released in late 2022.

A spokesperson from the Council also said that other issues requiring remediation and repair work are actively in place. There are no requirements to prioritise one project over the other.