10:30am Thursday 4th March 2010
Angry WI ladies are demanding that public toilets in Settle are reopened.
They are furious that the Ashfield car park toilets have been closed – leaving the town with just those in Whitefriars car park.
They say the remaining toilets – used by shoppers and tourists – are now over-used and often in a poor state.
And they want Craven District Council, which closed the Ashfield toilets last April, to reopen them for the good of the town.
Fifteen Settle WI members presented a petition of more than 900 names to the council on Wednesday last week.
Doris Robinson, secretary of Settle WI, told councillors it had been signed by neighbouring WI members, town organisations and tourists.
“When the lavatories were closed, they were in good order – we would like them reopened before they deteriorate through neglect,” she said. “People from surrounding villages come to Settle to shop and are distressed to find the lavatories in Ashfield car park closed.”
She said the toilets in Whitefriars car park were often in a poor state because they were used so much.
“We would ask what the council intends to do with the toilets in Ashfield car park – and is it their intention to let the building rot until it is beyond repair. We at least ask that the council sees that the building is maintained,” she said.
Craven District Council decided last year to close public toilets – unless town and parish councils wanted to take them over. Settle Town Council decided against taking over the Ashfield car park toilets.
At last week’s council meeting, council leader Chris Knowles-Fitton did not offer to reopen the toilets, but he pledged the remaining public toilets would be kept clean.
“What I will do is ensure the Whitefriars toilets are maintained in the necessary way and, if they are not in that condition, I will ensure that it is put right,” he said.
He said it had cost the council £270,000 a year to maintain public toilets and at a standard that was not acceptable. He pointed out supermarket toilets were checked and cleaned every two hours and that level of cleanliness was not possible for the council which, he said, did not have a statutory duty to run public toilets.
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