Council leader suggests charging for coastal public toilets in clash over ‘continually closed’ facilities

Alec Brown said any extra income could go towards maintaining Redcar and Cleveland Council’s stock of public toilets and building new ones.

Saltburn councillor Philip Thomson said the public toilets on the Lower Promenade, which are currently free to use, were “continually subject to closure” whenever there was heavy rainfall.

He said: “The unreliability of this prime public facility is not helpful to either Saltburn residents or hundreds of thousands of visitors.

“The inadequately constructed building is in need of radical refurbishment to prevent this ongoing ‘out of order’ saga.”

The councillor asked when appropriate remedial works could be undertaken and whether the cost of this had been budgeted by the local authority.

Cllr Brown, answering Cllr Thomson’s question in the council chamber, said the toilets were of an acceptable construction.

But he also said inspections had taken place in a bid to establish how continued closures due to water ingress could be avoided.

Cllr Brown said: “The toilets are located against the cliff retaining wall.

“Following periods of heavy rainfall rainwater accumulates behind this retaining wall and then, finding the path of least resistance, [runs] through into publicly accessible areas.

“The council needs to be confident that any remedial works will solve the issue rather than make it worse.

“During these inspections rainwater does not always leak into the public toilets, making it difficult to predict where and how remedial works [should] be completed.”

Cllr Brown said a solution, however, was being developed which would involve creating new, additional drainage in plant areas adjacent to the main retaining wall before it was able to reach inside the toilet block.

He said a timescale would be shared with ward members as soon as possible.

Cllr Thomson said he was “disappointed” with the response and the council was “unable to clearly identify what actions are needed to continue to provide this nominal service”.

He suggested that extra public toilet facilities were needed in the seaside town to meet demand, particularly in the nearby Valley Gardens.

Cllr Brown replied: “We would all like extra toilets in our wards, but it is not something I am going to commit to today.

“With the [visitor] numbers you mentioned Cllr Thomson, maybe if we charged residents to use the toilets like [they] do in Scarborough and Whitby that would create a residual income so we can always maintain the toilets and build additional ones.

“It is certainly something I would like to explore.”