Council announces closure of public toilets to save money
A struggling local authority has announced that it is closing 20 public toilets from September to save money, including some in popular tourist locations.
Conwy County Borough Council has confirmed that 21 public toilet facilities will remain open across the county, some on a seasonal basis from Easter to the first week of September.
Meanwhile, 19 toilets in Council buildings will be available for everyone to use, alongside toilets in businesses signed up to the Council’s community toilet scheme.
Running costs
Cllr Goronwy Edwards, Cabinet Member for Infrastructure, Transport and Facilities said: “Every Council service has had to find significant financial savings for 2024/25. As part of this, we have reviewed options for public toilets. We no longer have budget to subsidise public toilets, so we have to recoup all running costs from paid-for facilities.
“Closing toilets is a difficult decision for us to make. We have considered how much facilities get used, where there are other toilets available nearby, and how often facilities are vandalised and the ongoing repair costs.”
The list of 20 toilets scheduled for closure on 4 September 2024 includes several which are already unavailable because of repeated vandalism, such as Maelgwyn Road in Llandudno Junction and Ivy Street in Colwyn Bay.
From July, members of the public will be able to use toilet facilities in Council buildings such as offices, leisure centres and libraries, even if they are not using other services in the building.
There are also 4 public toilets that are run by Town and Community Councils, in Penmachno, Dolwyddelan, Llansannan and Llangernyw which are not affected by these changes.
Additionally, Abergele Town Council, Conwy Town Council, Llanfair TH Community Council and Trefriw Community Council are providing sponsorship towards keeping toilets open in their areas.
Earlier this week it was confirmed that the cash strapped council had made dozens of teachers redundant to save money.
It confirmed 51 members of staff have been lost – at a one-off cost of £883k. School budgets were cut by 5% earlier this year for the second year running. The council said the redundancies would save more than £2m annually.
The authority raised council tax by 9.67% for the current financial year and slashed other front-line service budgets by 10%.
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Have councillors salary been cut!
They should at least make poo bags available to the general the public!
Community toilet scheme joined to pot hole leveling project…waste not want not…get the council tax payers to help out water company profits…so thoughtful…
Bloody pathetic. Sack the lot of them, Any officers earing more than 100k get rid of them.
So what are we supposed to do when nature calls and we are not at home? When you need to go, you need to go! This decision lacks humanity. It is also a kick in the teeth for the tourist industry, a large part of Conwy’s economy. Where are our visitors supposed to go to the toilet now?
Conwy has become a failed county. I really can’t understand why the Welsh Government hasn’t placed Conwy in special measures.
Disgusted!
Close down Councils for what use they are. That will save us all a load of cash. Perhaps we should all keep our eye on council officials just to see where they pee if they are caught short. Also, make council workers pay for car parking during working hours and any other freebies they enjoy. That will probably pay to keep the toilets open. Also, why does it take six workers and almost as many vehicles to fill a pothole? Six-figure council workers seriously need to look inhouse at how they waste money on silly little projects, wasteful meetings, expenses,… Read more »
Closing toilets will cost them more in thend. People will just go where they can. Thus clear up needed and loss of votes in next election.
This cannot have been a ‘difficult decision to make’ as the service is being cut, under what council criteria is this being implemented apart from saving cash. Health? Elected councillors seem to forget why they exist. If this trend of underfunding continues there will be only one councillor left per council we won’t be able to afford more.
Councils are cutting services all over the country so if we don’t get the services we do not need to employ the people who used to do them. However, we rarely hear of redundancies. What do the people who no longer do these services do all day?? Perhaps they go on long-term sick leave on full pay.
They used to be promoted to get them out of the department. That’s why they want to expand the senedd there’s nowhere else for them to go ‘ background staff ‘.
Unfortunately, it is teachers and school staff who have been cut in Conwy. Some with voluntary redundancies, some with compulsory and some not replaced upon retirement or leaving. Therefore, it is the children and young people of Conwy who will suffer as their education is cut.