Delay to closing public toilets costing £10,000 a week – council leader

Richard Evans – Local Democracy Reporter

Delays to plans for the closure of almost half of a local authority’s public toilets is costing £10k per week.

Conwy Council’s leader Cllr Charlie McCoubrey said they had had “positive responses” from town and community councils with regards “minimising public toilet closures”.

But he warned delays to the plans to close or scale back 19 public loos was costing thousands per week.

The council’s cabinet stood by a decision to shut toilets during a meeting this month, after the decision was called-in by Conservative councillors claiming they hadn’t been consulted.

But the cabinet stuck to their guns at the September meeting, refusing to back down from pressure from backbenchers.

Llandudno Town Council then stepped in, offering to contribute up to £25,000 towards the upkeep of public conveniences, preventing the closure of toilets in the seaside town.

Talks

And while a date for a second call-in has now elapsed, the council’s leader has revealed talks are ongoing with town councils across the county – and no date has been set to close facilities, despite them being originally scheduled to close on September 4.

The leader did warn, though, that delaying closure was costing around £10,000 a week.

Cllr McCoubrey said: “We are working incredibly hard to find alternative ways of minimising public toilet closures, and there have been positive responses from town and community councils.

“We do not have a confirmed date for any toilets to close yet; however, decommissioning these facilities takes about two weeks.

“It’s important to note that each additional week that they remain open costs £10,000, which will result in less money for other services.”