Urinals solve a wee problem

From April 15, the City of Sydney will trial the use of portable urinals on Friday and Saturday nights in a bid to reduce public urination.

“Residents have been complaining for years about public urination on their doorstops, in driveways and on house and building walls,” City of Sydney’s late-night economy manager Suzie Matthews said.

“Police figures show that charges for offensive conduct, which includes public urination, has increased by 30 percent over the past 24 months.”

The four temporary outdoor urinals, each of which can hold more than 450 litres of urine, will be trialled over four weekends on Friday and Saturday nights and then removed each morning.

Matthews said the locations for the trial were chosen based on where the most complaints came from and these were Darlinghurst’s Oxford Square at the corner of Oxford and Burton Sts, and Fitzroy Gardens, Springfield Mall and Roslyn Plaza in Kings Cross.

She said similar urinals were already being used in London, Amsterdam, Edinburgh and Canada where they significantly curbed public urination.

The penalty for public urination is $200.

The trial will bolster the city’s precinct ambassadors in George St to assist crowd movements and the installation of new late-night signage directing people to transport options.

More than 90 signs directing people to trains and taxi ranks will be installed in areas with high late-night pedestrian volumes in Kings Cross, Oxford St and George St South.

“This new signage will help make late night transport options easier to locate,” Matthews said.

Matthews said the city had worked with NSW Police, local liquor accords and licensees to identify appropriate locations for the signage to be installed.