PLANS to shut public toilets across Argyll and Bute have met with a furious response from people in Helensburgh – and a plea for a rethink.

Councillors voted last week to back a plan which will see more than half of the area’s 59 public loos – closed at the start of the pandemic lockdown – remain shut in the long term.

Thirty-five facilities across the area have reopened following the easing of lockdown restrictions – but it’s estimated that between 10 and 15 of those will be closed at the end of October, leaving only a ‘core set’ of potentially as few as 20 toilets to cover the whole an area of more than 2,600 square miles.

The public toilets in Helensburgh and Rhu are among those to have reopened since limits were eased, but the loos in Kilcreggan are among 24 across the area that have been kept closed.

The plan was backed by Argyll and Bute Council’s business continuity committee (BCC) last week – despite a report of human excrement being found on the village green at Kilmartin in mid Argyll, one of the places where the toilet has not reopened after lockdown.

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Lomond North independent councillor George Freeman, who is not a member of the committee, said: “The decision is most disappointing and needs to be reconsidered.

“This appears to be the easy option for the council without any consideration being given to a busy port like Kilcreggan where a large number of people who use the Kilcreggan-Gourock ferry service pass through on a daily basis and where a large number of complaints have been raised with regard to this thoughtless decision.”

Raymond Martin from lobbying group the British Toilet Association said: “Shutting toilets is a false economy – whatever they cost, they are about health and wellbeing, social inclusion, public dignity and public decency.

“By shutting public toilets you’re going to get more open defecation and street urination, and that is mess that’s going to take money to clean up.

“In the present climate we need more hand washing facilities and more sanitation facilities as part of the drive forward to control this pandemic.”

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“Toilets were provided for a reason, and that reason hasn’t gone away.”

The committee’s decision sparked plenty of angry responses when the news was shared on the Advertiser’s social media channels.

May Renfrew warned: “When people have to attend to nature in a hurry you will find the results everywhere.”

Caroline Brown said: Toilets need to be open, if you close them there will be increased costs in cleaning up waste. This is a health issue, cost of public toilets has to be met.

And Heather Stevenson added: “For wheelchair users, special needs people, pregnant mums and grannies “caught short”, don’t take away the public conveniences.”

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There was no indication, either in the report to last week's meeting or during the meeting itself, of which toilets might be part of the ‘core set’ to stay open beyond October.

Responding to the criticism, a council spokesperson said: “We would like to be able to do everything that local people and our communities want us to do.

“Unfortunately, cuts to our funding mean we cannot do that and we must make changes even to our most valued services, particularly now as we face the additional financial impacts of Covid-19.

“The 35 public conveniences currently open will remain open until the end of the main tourist season. It’s not uncommon for some of our public toilets to close over the winter period.

“Officers will work with area committee members over the coming weeks to identify which public toilets should remain open across the area and in each main town.”

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