Beach toilets could face axe

News Archive > General > Beach toilets could face axe

Warren Wilkins06/06/2012

COUNCIL bosses plan to wash their hands of two public toilets at beach locations in the Newquay area.

Cornwall Council has earmarked the closure of its toilets at Crantock and Holywell Bay on July 16 in a bid to cut costs, but residents fear tourism will be damaged if people are caught short when they visit the areas.

The authority is in negotiation with the National Trust to see if the organisation would like to take over the toilets as the facilities are situated on land it leases from the conservation body.

The trust is contemplating the idea as it sees the importance of the loos but fear the costs involved will reduce the amount of conservation work they will be able to carry out in the area.  One idea it has to keep the toilets open in Holywell Bay is to share the costs with local campsites, but there are no commercial partners in Crantock it can join forces with. A Cornwall Council spokesman said: “Last year we carried out a review of the provision of public conveniences across Cornwall, including those where the council maintains toilets on land owned by other organisations.

“We fully appreciate the importance of public toilets and our desire is that alternative local solutions are found to ensure these toilets remain open, although no longer under the direct control of Cornwall Council.

“To date there have been a number of meetings with landowners and local councils to explore alternative arrangements. These meetings have been constructive and we are hopeful that as a result the vast majority of these toilets will remain open.”

Ian Kemp, property manager at the National Trust, is due to meet representatives from the council on June 15 to discuss the potential of taking over the toilets. He said: “Our concern is the cost of running the toilets day to day and the cost of building maintenance. They are quite substantial and we have not budgeted for that as it has come at quite short notice.

“Our only income at Holywell and Crantock are the car parks, which is quite a short season. If we take on the costs of running the toilets it will make quite a serious dent in our takings from the car park, which before now has helped to fund our conservation work in North Cornwall. Not surprisingly we are reluctant to take on the toilets but we recognise if the council says it is not going to there is a need for them. We need to try and find a way to keep the toilets open somehow.

"It may be possible to work jointly with big campsites in Holywell. Between us we may be able to fund them but it is slightly more difficult at Crantock because we have not got any commercial partners that could help us there. We do not know how it will be resolved. Both parties will try and find a constructive solution.”

Holywell resident Simon Hancock  said: “Holywell is a busy beach with 3,000 to 4,000 people visiting per day in summer. If one accepts the rationale of public funding cuts, where is the logic in closing this facility in July just as the beach reaches its most popular time?”