Planning, design and onsite underground exploratory works is underway ahead of the public tendering process in late 2022 for a major upgrade of the main sewer pump station servicing Tuross Head. Sewer Pump Station No. 1 (aka SPS1) that is adjacent to the shared pathway at Coila Beach precinct will be replaced next year in a $3m plus project as the current sewer pumps are well overdue for replacement. The new pumphouse will be physically larger, but it will made more aesthetically pleasing, and be set back further into grassed area behind the existing SPS1 on the northern edge of Seamans Reserve (unmarked graves of drowning victims from the mid to late 1800’s) which adjoins the adjacent to Bridges Avenue.
The new SPS1 will have superior pumps with a greater capacity so as to be able to cope with further expansion of Tuross Head that will include a new 76 lot sub-division at the bottom of Anderson Avenue. SPS1 is the major pumping station servicing the town as it receives sewer waste from all of the other pumping stations sited around Tuross, then pumps the bulk waste to the sewer treatment plan at Bingi where some of the output returns as recycled waste water to be used for watering the THCC Golf Course.
The new SPS1 will have an inbuilt power generator that will automatically switch on to operate the pumps in the event of blackouts in Tuross Head. Currently if there is a power failure, the Council has to retrieve a mobile generator from the main Narooma SPS and ferry this to Tuross SPS1 until the power supply is restored. This has been found to be an unsatisfactory arrangement in the past because of the inherent time delays.
Coila beach toilets well below standard
At the Tuross Head Progress meeting on Thursday 3rd Nov, 2016 attendees were advised that there were now considerable concerns for the state of the Coila Beach toilet.
From the comments of those present it appeared that the wider community was not at all satisfied with the condition of the toilet block was now well past their use-by-date.
Comment was "Forty years ago the besser block toilets would have been a grand addition to the beach for our summer visitors but now it is drab and well below any acceptable standard.
"Council has been asked many times of an expected replacement date and have continued to say that these toilets are low on their priority list. They also advised at the time that there had been recent upgrades to the Sandy Point toilets and Evans Reserve toilets (Federally funded) and that the Amenities block at Kyla Oval had just been refurbished (paid for by the recent rate increase).
Within Council's infrastructure fund there is a requirement to write off assets when they arrive at the end of their economic life and replace them when they come to the end of their service life and fall below satisfactory.
In a 2016 survey of the Tuross Head community over 75% of respondents said that they would prefer to hold until until they got home rather than use the Coila toilet block. If that is what residents feel then what must the visitors to Tuross Head feel?
Sick of waiting for action from Council the Tuross Head Progress Association organised a working bee in the lead-up to the 2017 Christmas holidays to paint the Coila Toilet Block. Embarrassed by the show of community displeasure Council stepped in and provided paint brushes and paint.
It is now understood that Council will be scheduling the replacement for the dilapidated sub-optimal Coila Toilet Block in an upcoming budget term
As long ago as September 2013 the question being asked by the Tuross Head community was "Should Coila have a beach cafe on its toilet block". Such a cafe would be at minimal cost to add, would return a rental to Council on its asset, would provide a much needed beach-side amenity for tourists and visitors alike and would indicate, if approved, the capacity of councillors to think outside of the box and to say no to mediocre recommendations by engineers who have little interest in such matters.
Image: It doesn't take much to see the value in a rooftop cafe sitting atop the Coila Toilet block with a ramp proving near level access to the cycleway above. Design by John Eglitis.
