Communities urged to take on public toilets following decision to close 14 across Moray
Councillors vote by 12-10 to close public toilets as part of budget savings
Fourteen public toilets in Moray are to close at the end of September unless communities are able to take over the running of them.
Eighteen public toilets are currently operated by Moray Council, with a further two leased by community organisations. Interest in taking on some of the toilets has already been received by the council.
As part of a range of budget savings for 2020/21, councillors yesterday agreed to close the toilets, saving £63,000 over the next two years.
Public toilets at the council’s harbours will remain open, as all six harbours support fishing, leisure and commercial activities that require toilet facilities and fresh water to meet health and hygiene regulations.
However the following toilets are set to close on 30 September 2020:
Newlands Lane, Buckie
Seaview Road, Cummingston
Albert Place, Dufftown
Cooper Park, Elgin
West Dunes (North), Findhorn
Grant Park, Forres
Old Station, Ballindalloch
Tomnabat Lane, Tomintoul
Spey Street, Garmouth
Regent Square, Keith
East Street, Fochabers
Esplanade, Lossiemouth
Victoria Road, Craigellachie
New Street, Rothes
Four staff are affected.
Chair of Economic Development & Infrastructure Services and leader of Moray Council, Cllr Graham Leadbitter, urged communities to follow the example of the already successful community-operated public toilets elsewhere in Moray.
“Growing pressures in areas such as child protection and social care mean that the council is having to prioritise its spending in different ways. That has meant some challenging decisions for councillors, including the need to close toilets.
“There has been some great support from communities taking on toilet facilities, such as Lossiemouth, Craigellachie and Cullen. With continued community support, alongside the recent launch of our comfort scheme, toilet provision will still be accessible for residents and visitors, both in council-owned premises in the comfort scheme and those of other participants in the private sector.
“Council-operated public toilets will close at the end of this summer season to mitigate the impact for visitors to Moray, and we also hope that it will afford communities time to explore opportunities such as a Community Asset Transfer. Anyone interested in this should e-mail CAT@moray.gov.uk
“I am in positive discussions with other organisations to explore alternative provision through the comfort scheme, and am confident that we will still have good toilet provision across Moray in 2021.”