Work to begin with £1.2m upgrade of toilet facilities

Work to begin with £1.2m upgrade of toilet facilities

22 January 2020

WORK is to start shortly on a £1.2m investment to upgrade public toilets across the district so local people and visitors can spend a penny in facilities which are suitable.

Newry, Mourne and Down Council — which is responsible for 31 public loos across the district — plans to invest the money over a three-year period.

Work will start shortly to upgrade public toilets at Castle Park in Newcastle which the local authority has described as a “flagship site”, while a new toilet block is to be provided in Killough.

There are currently six stand-alone public toilet blocks in Newcastle, five of which are prefabricated buildings. Plans for these pubic toilets will be outlined in a draft strategy mapping the way forward when it is presented to councillors.

While a lot of work has been carried out to prepare the strategy, local politicians will be told at tonight’s meeting of the local authority’s Neighbourhood Services Committee that then document is not yet complete.

However, council officials have revealed that several key principles have emerged from work carried out to date which surprisingly includes a suggestion to review the strategic and legal case for continuing to provide provide public toilets across the district.

Other feedback provided includes queries on whether the current number of toilets are sufficient, the potential removal of individual toilets due to what has been described as a “underuse or over provision” and is the condition of the existing public toilets adequate?

The strategy will review the findings of structural and usage surveys which have already been undertaken and examine how often public toilets are cleaned.

In addition, the strategy will consider whether the local authority’s public toilet service should be restricted to its 31 stand alone facilities, or extended to include those in council and other public buildings.

A so-called ‘community toilet scheme’ has also been suggested that would involve a partnership arrangement between the local authority and commercial operators who would allow toilets on their premises to be used by the public.

The strategy will also propose capital investment to replace so-called stand alone units identified as beyond repair. 

Most significantly, the strategy will recommend that when new capital works are proposed or significant refurbishment works to existing toilets are undertaken, the design brief must take into account the needs of less abled users and cater for the needs of the severely disabled and those with Autism or dementia.

As part of the major overhaul of public conveniences, council officials are working alongside the British Toilet Association, while ratepayers have been asked for their views via the district’s seven electoral forum groups.

Council chiefs aim to upgrade toilets with the proposed £1.2m spend coming after concerns about toilet provision across the district in a number of areas, especially Newcastle and Saintfield.

Politicians say they recognise that a major capital programme is required to upgrade existing toilets and implement planned improvements, designed to ensure the facilities meet the needs of a wider range of people.

Mournes councillor Willie Clarke has welcomed the various recommendations arising out of the strategic review of public convenience provision, subject to approval at tonight’s council committee meeting.

He said officers will proceed to develop business cases concerning the refurbishment of public toilets at Newcastle’s Castle Park and a new public convenience in Killough.

Cllr Clarke said that he has been contacted on numerous occasions about the cleanliness of toilets in Newcastle.

“I have also voiced my concern in relation to the closure of two Newcastle town centre public toilets during the summer season when those at both Castle Park and the Islands Park were closed,” he added.