Toilets worth $60,000 that have stood the test of vandalism in Victoria, Queensland and large Sydney housing estates have not survived in Dubbo. Dubbo City Council staff are disappointed and the toilet manufacturers have been left in disbelief at the level of damage Dubbo vandals have been able to inflict on the toilets in Spears Drive Park and Luna Park. The toilets in Luna Park have been vandalised twice while the toilets in Spears Drive Park have been vandalised three times - each time the repairs cost between $6000 and $8000. Among other things the vandals have managed to destroy the high-tech security locking system, making the toilets unusable because the doors cannot be closed. Council is now awaiting parts to be delivered from the manufacturer and is considering the installation of an alarm. Parks and landcare manager Murray Wood said everything they had heard from other councils told them these toilets would be a success. "We had the company representative out here to investigate them and quite frankly they were shocked at the amount of damage that had been done," Mr Wood said. "They used a fair bit of ingenuity and effort to make them unusable, and if only they would put that ingenuity to good use, the world would be a better place - as would the Gordon and Apollo estates."

Sporting facilities manager Ian McAlister said the toilet vandalism had marred the otherwise successful project of redeveloping Spears Drive Park. "There's been a lot of positives to come out of the project as well," Mr McAlister said. "The Department of Sport and Recreation is holding day clinics here - there has been a community tree planting project and you can see kids using the ground to play sport rather than trashing the place." Mr McAlister said the toilets were especially needed for the children in the Sport and Recreation programs, so they were looking at a system of having the toilets open only during times activities were being held at the oval. Mr Wood said that the council was now working with the company to come up with solutions for Dubbo.