THE great battle of the loo escalated yesterday, with Murwillumbah's business leaders giving the ‘bums down' to council plans for new toilets on a prominent footpath site on the riverbank end of the town's main street.

Tweed Shire Council has managed to unite three diverse community groups against its plans to close a public toilet block and build a new one in the heart of Murwillumbah.

At a “sit-in” protest, directors of the Murwillumbah and District Business Chamber perched themselves on toilet pans on the site, calling on the council to think again.

The Business Chamber, the Caldera Environment Centre and the Murwil- lumbah Ratepayers' and Residents' Association have combined to fight the plans, which would also see a more than 50-year-old art deco toilet block near the town clock closed.

The groups argue new toilets under a fig tree beside Tumbulgum Rd near Southern Cross Credit Union would spoil the view down Murwillumbah and Wharf Sts.

“It's not good for business in the town; it's not good for tourism,” said residents' association president Robyn Lemaire.

“You would look down the main street at a public toilet block. That's not good from a public planning point of view.

“At the moment the focus is a tree with a picnic table under it.”

Ms Lemaire said her association preferred an option put forward by the environment centre which would see the existing art deco toilets in Queen St upgraded with a disabled person's toilet added behind the existing building.

“The main street of Murwillumbah is classic art deco. To maintain what we have could be a good thing for tourism,” Ms Lemaire said.

“It's relatively central to the main street and it does get used a lot, particularly by older and younger

people who don't want to walk to the other end.”

Business Chamber president Toni Zuschke said the Queen St toilets were in a prime location and if the building could not be renovated the council should “knock it down and build a brand new art deco one”.

“What's wrong with coming up with something a little more creative,” she added.

Yesterday afternoon Ms Zuschke addressed the council's community access session, but earlier warned that any new toilets would need to cater for growing numbers of shoppers, crowds during major events, the elderly and mothers with babies.

Other business chamber directors joined her beforehand under the fig tree where the new toilets would be built, sitting on borrowed pans to show their disgust at the council plan.