Alternative ways are being considered to modify public toilets in South Holland, it’s been claimed after negative feedback was gathered from a council that implemented the same measures six years ago.
As reported last week, Fenland District Council says the self-lock toilets it included in Wisbech had “made no noticeable impact on the reduction of anti-social behaviour” as well as having maintenance issues.
The claims are in a report to South Holland District Council’s Performance Monitoring Committee last week.
Its chair Bryan Alcock said: “The investigation shows that the toilets looked at develop problems and they’re somewhat complex in their maintenance.
“Quite understandably the officers are beginning to question whether that recommendation is the correct one.
“As I understand it we’re now considering whether there’s an alternative way to modify the current toilets without going towards the expense of buying these pods which seem to have a questionable track record.
“It seems to me a good thing we’re looking at it again as the last thing you want to do is spend money on some shiny pod you stick in a traditional building and find it’s a hell of a job to maintain it and when it goes wrong it will be costly.”
Just under half of the £500,000 the district council announced it had allocated to improve Spalding and Holbeach town centres last year was to go towards the toilets.
The authority’s place manager Emily Spicer said: “It (the style of toilets) has developed problems in Wisbech town centre, however some of the more rural locations hadn’t seen problems.
“There is a balance and only one location where there’s more negatives than positives.
“We’re absolutely still supportive and one thing the town centre plan intends to do is engage with the wider stake-holders of Spalding.”
Coun Alcock continued: “The authority has said, yes we presently provide toilets, it’s discretionary but nevertheless we will provide them fit for use.
“There must be nothing worse than getting a bus in from the outlying parts of the district, needing the toilet and finding the one that’s available to you is less than wholesome.
“If we’re going to improve the toilets, let’s do it properly.
“It is six years but if we bought it and it went wrong in six years some of us would be disappointed.
“We also need to make sure the cleaning regime for the toilets now is maintained and they’re kept as well as they can be.”
Another type of toilet being looked at was not inspected as the nearest one were in Southend on Sea.
