Published: Thursday, 26th June, 2008 11:00
Toilets campaign to continue
By Peter Swindon
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Cllr Rowley
Fife’s Labour leader has vowed to fight a council decision to close Cowdenbeath Public Toilets.
The Pit Road conveniences closed on 31st May, despite a hard-fought campaign by the town’s community council.
The facility was costing the council more than £57,000 per year to run but, in the eleven months from March 2007, 17,000 people used the Pit Road conveniences - the equivalent of more than £3 per person.
Cowdenbeath Leisure Centre, now run independently of the local authority by a Leisure Trust, is the nearest alternative.
Councillor Rowley said: “Public toilets are important for the quality of people’s lives and to make our town and village centres more attractive to visitors thus helping to sustain local economies. They are important for older people, families with small children and people with mobility difficulties and their carers.
“The so-called solution to the withdrawal of public toilets is manifestly not thought through. Who would ever think that access to a public toilet would be through a pool area where children and parents are in the water? I visited the leisure centre this week and would have to say this is the most bizarre arrangement that I have seen, ill-conceived, and more likely to drive swimmers away from the centre.”
Cllr Rowley has tabled a motion for today’s full meeting of the council highlighting a report from Help the Aged which states that “more than half of older people found that a lack of local public toilets prevented them from going out as often as they would like”.
“The people of Fife should not sit back and accept bad decisions such as those to close public toilets,” Councillor Rowley added. “We must have ambition and vision for our town centres and I for one am not prepared to sit back while Fife Council takes decisions that degrade Cowdenbeath. I am also calling on the Area Committee to fight this for you may not always win but if you don’t try you will surely lose.”
Cowdenbeath Community Council collected the signatures of almost 3000 people who backed their campaign to keep the toilets open.
Chairman, Alex Haddow, welcomed Cllr Rowley’s support this week. “The fight goes on,” he said.
The campaign has also won support from The British Toilet Association, the body that fights for better public conveniences.
Director, Mike Bone, said: “It’s very sad that Fife Council has not listened to the people of Cowdenbeath. Toilets are a necessity, particularly for elderly people and those with certain illnesses. They rely on public toilets and often stay at home when they are closed.
“The BTA finds it unacceptable that this facility has been closed. All councils should have a strategy for towns and cities that includes the provision of public toilets. Restricting availability is wrong.”
Leader of Fife Council, Peter Grant, denied decisions were being taken that “degrade Cowdenbeath”.
“Just last week we announced an investment in the town to the tune of £400,000,” he said. “This money will go some way to improving Cowdenbeath but that’s not the end of the story. We won’t allow Cowdenbeath to be degraded.”
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