Burrumbuttock's award-winning Wirraminna Environmental Education Centre needs new toilets to cater for disabled students and a growth in demand.
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Wirraminna is banking on a successful application to the NSW government's Crown Reserves Improvement Fund Program for $100,000 to build three toilets, including one disabled cubicle, connected to sewerage.
But it will be their third attempt at this funding round and alternative sources are being sought in the case their bid again comes back unsuccessful in September.
Chairman Darryl Jacob and senior project officer Stacee Bell made an appeal for funding to Greater Hume Council earlier this year and spoke of having to turn away some disabled schools interested in programs.
"I run the education groups, and on average for 25 weeks of the year I have 30 children coming and using the one composting toilet," Ms Bell said.
"We use the toilet about 130 times during the day, including staff.
"There has been occasions where we've had 60 to 100 children, and I've actually had to take them up to the recreation ground to use the toilets there."
The single toilet is difficult to use for disabled groups, and changes in Department of Education regulation mean groups can no longer access the nearby public school's amenities.
Established in 1995 by a group of local volunteers, the Wirraminna Environmental Education Centre was originally just an old stock reserve and public dam and has grown to win numerous accolades including a National Landcare Award in 2000.
The single composting toilet was added in 2002 and a discovery centre with a display of the endangered Southern Coroboree Frog was completed in 2006.
Ms Bell said since a new office jointly funded by the federal government was opened in August last year, the shortfall in amenities had become more obvious.
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"Since we put in this office building, that made more of a need to have fully-functioning toilets," she said.
"West Hume Landcare and other staff use the space.
"We get busier and busier here, with thousands of community members and groups coming through, and the statistic we can't capture is the people who visit on weekends that we don't see.
"We've been knocked back twice before for the funding and hopefully this time it comes through."
The CRIFP "provides financial support for the development, maintenance and improvement of Crown reserves".
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