IT WAS a case of too much loot to invest in the loo as Tamworth Regional Council flushed two tenders for its $1.5 million toilet upgrade.
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In a closed meeting, council terminated the tenders after they were deemed too expensive.
It’s back to the drawing board for council as it commits to building the first of the new commodes before the end of June.
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The multi-million plan to upgrade “16 high profile public amenity facilities” was floated in April, last year.
It was hoped by lumping all of the toilet tinkering projects together would be the best way to do business and attract value for money.
Councillor Glenn Inglis said the tenders received “substantially exceeded” the budget for the project.
He said staff would devise a different plan of attack for the project and could return with a new report within four weeks.
While the plan to flush-out a better long-term deal by pooling the works into a bigger contract didn’t pay off, Cr Inglis said there is still merit in looking to scale-up work.
He suggested the geographical spread of the the jobs could’ve worked against the tender, especially to non-local companies looking at the job.
There are new loos slated for locations in Barraba, Manilla, Nundle, Attunga and at Sheba Dam, amongst a slew of upgrade jobs around Tamworth.
Cr Inglis said staff might split the work up into smaller chunks to make it a more attractive job for local builders, or some of the locations could house “modular toilets”.
While the project has been on the boil for almost 12 months, there was a sense of urgency in getting the upgrades delivered.
“It’s been hanging around for a number of years,” Cr Inglis said.
“The ones we’ve targeted need to be improved.
“In some, the septic tanks are starting to fail.
“The one at the Moonbi Lookout is an example of a pretty poor public toilet.”
He said council received more feedback on its public amenities than people might think. “We have a large visitor base and it’s always growing,” he said.
Tamworth’s high profile public toilets and their replacement cost
- Attunga Rest Area Toilets – $80,000
- Barraba Lions Park Toilets – $115,000
- Barraba Rotary Park Toilets – $100,000
- Hyman Road Safety Park Toilets – $120,000
- Manilla Rotary Park Toilets – $40,000
- Marsupial Park Toilets – $80,000
- Moonbi Chook Park Toilets – $80,000
- Moonbi Lookout Toilets – $50,000
- Nundle Jenkins St Public Toilets – $117,000
- Sheba Dam Toilets – $50,000
- Tamworth ANZAC Park Toilet Building – $126,000
- Tamworth Bicentennial Park Toilets – $287,000
- Tamworth Cemetery Toilets – $40,000
- Tamworth Oxley Lookout Ladies’ Toilets – $50,000
- Tamworth Oxley Lookout Men’s Toilets – $50,000
- Tamworth Viaduct Park Public Toilets – $98,000