Albany’s public toilets forced shut after fortnight of destruction by “numbskulls”

Albany’s public toilets have been forced shut following a fortnight of destruction at the hands of ‘numbskulls’ on the hunt for hand towels and sanitiser, said Mayor Dennis Wellington.

Mr Wellington said relentless vandalism had seen the public facilities repeatedly destroyed and stripped of supplies leaving City staff helpless.

He said looters had used a vehicle to repeatedly ram a portable toilet outside Town Hall, shattered sanitiser dispensers and raided public hand towel supplies across the city.

“It is just mindless destruction from people who are obviously just not quite with it,” he said.

“Every time we fill the paper towels and the sanitiser up they get smashed in and broken.

“It’s the mindless stupidity of it that is unsettling and the fact that you can’t do a hell of a lot about it.

“We haven’t got time to keep replenishing and we haven’t got time for someone to stand and guard it from someone with absolutely no mind for the welfare of the community.”

Mr Wellington said the total cost of the damage was unknown, but the city could no longer mend the daily onslaught of vandalism.

“Every time you fix it up, it gets done again. So at some stage you’ve got to stop fixing it up,” he said.

“We’d just like to get to a situation where this stops but you will probably have to wait until the pandemic is over, the problem is everyone else suffers because of the stupidity of some.

“Grab some brains. Have some empathy for the other people that are around the place, this is just an act of stupidity.”

Mr Wellington said he did not know when the facilities would be reopened to the public.

Public toilets at the Albany Surf Lifesaving Club, Women’s Rest Centre and changing places near the Albany Entertainment Centre and Swarbrick Street at Emu Point will continue to be serviced and locked overnight.

Facilities at City-managed campgrounds will also remain open and cleaned, but will not be restocked