Oh, what a relief!

By Shaun Inguanzo
KEYSBOROUGH residents visiting Wachter Reserve have been waiting 16 years to use a toilet.
But relief is now at hand.
The City of Greater Dandenong will install a self-flushing, self-cleaning unisex toilet for the popular sporting reserve.
The Wachter loo is one of two to be installed in Greater Dandenong. The other, Douglas Street in Noble Park, will lie adjacent to the railway station.
The City of Greater Dandenong council voted to install the toilets at Monday night’s meeting.
The Exeloos will be unisex toilets that self-flush, self-clean and automatically open their doors after a period of time, to prevent drugs addicts using the loos for drug abuse.
The cost to ratepayers will be almost $350,000 for both toilets.
Keysborough Ward councillor Roz Blades recalled when the former Springvale Council bulldozed the previous Wachter Reserve toilet block in the early 1990s.
“The toilet was continuously filled with syringes and was impossible to keep clean. After continual complaints from residents, it was decided to bulldoze the toilet in the early 90s, so it has been about 16 years since there were public toilet facilities available,” she said.
Cr Blades said residents had since been inconvenienced by the lack of toilet facilities.
“Residents just taking a walk, walking their dog, playing sport, or having a barbecue had to go home or to the local shopping centre,” she said.
“Hardly practical.”
Cr Blades said Wachter Reserve was also in need of a new barbecue.
“Wachter Reserve is a lovely family reserve and there will be clean and useable facilities for families near the play area,” she said.
“I have also asked in the budget this year to update the barbecue facilities.”