Halls Head resident Daniel Rowe was outraged when on his regular walk around Calypso Park in Halls Head he got a glimpse of the newly upgraded toilet facilities after being out of use for nine weeks.
The old male and a female toilets with several cubicles each had been substituted by two unisex toilets, allowing for only two people to use the facility at once.
“The upgrade of the toilet block in Calypso Park is an absolute waste of ratepayers’ money,” he said.
“They were starting to age but they were always clean.”
Mr Rowe said the old facilities allowed for five or six people to use them at the time, and the new facilities would be an inconvenience.
The City of Mandurah chief Mark Newman said the upgrade works were part of a scheduled maintenance, and the City had used the opportunity to provide more accessible-friendly facilities.
“In accordance with our normal practice, the opportunity was taken to provide compliant universally accessible facilities as part of these works,” he said.
Mr Newman said given the size and layout of the existing block the most affordable option was to transform the existing facilities into two unisex accessible toilets, one of them with baby changing facilities.
“This configuration offers the most flexibility and inclusive arrangements for the benefit of the widest possible range of users,” he said.
“We take pride in being able to provide quality facilities for our community."
The toilets are already available for community use, but the new block has yet to be painted.