Published on 07 May 2026
Northern Grampians Shire Council will temporarily close a public toilet block in St Arnaud and reduce opening hours of toilets in Stawell due to ongoing vandalism.
From Monday, council will close the toilet block behind St Arnaud library, overlooking Market Square, while the public toilets in the alleyway alongside Shop 108 in Stawell will be locked outside of business hours.
Mayor Karen Hyslop said council staff had been working to combat a rise in vandalism and destruction of property at the facilities for several months, which had resulted in ongoing additional expenses and strain on resources.
“The last thing we want to do is reduce the opening hours of public amenities, which are used by many members of our community – including families and the elderly – along with tourists and visitors passing through our towns,” she said.
“However, due to ongoing vandalism and antisocial behaviour, these facilities have been – at times – left in a disgusting state. Not only are they not fit to be used by anyone, the conditions for our staff and the additional cleaning crews we have had to employ are unfair.”
The damage includes graffiti, smashed infrastructure, strewn rubbish, needles and deliberately blocked toilets.
“Council is spending additional resources to clean up the mess and replace broken infrastructure. That money comes from the council budget, paid by ratepayers. It is money that would be much better spent on other services and infrastructure,” Cr Hyslop said.
“We have had to make the difficult decision to close the St Arnaud toilets for the time being – people can use the new toilets in Market Square instead. We have chosen to restrict the opening hours of the Stawell toilets instead of closing them as there are not any others in walking distance.
“We understand this is frustrating for many members of our community.”
Cr Hyslop said the increased frequency of vandalism at toilet blocks within the shire was not just a council issue, but also a community issue.
“We are imploring the community to work with us to stop this,” she said.
“If you see any vandalism or anti-social behaviour at council facilities, please report it.”
Vandalism can be reported to council via the Snap, Send, Solve app or by calling customer service on (03) 5358 8700.
Antisocial behaviour can be reported to the Police Assistance Line on 131 444, Stawell Police Station on (03) 5358 8222 or St Arnaud Police Station on (03) 5495 1000.
In a case of emergency, call triple zero.