Rescue plan for town's public toilets suffers major setback

* The rescue plan for the Market Street public toilets has suffered a setback.

The county council has confirmed that its bid for funding to help facelift and save Llangollen’s public toilets from closure has failed.

But Denbighshire says it is now looking at alternative funding possibilities and remains committed to keeping the Market Street conveniences open.

Suggestions last summer that the toilets could close along with all the others across the county in a bid to dig Denbighshire out of a massive financial black hole caused deep concern in the town since after the plan was revealed by llanblogger.

A public meeting was called to hammer out the issue back in the summer with many people voicing their fears about the damage any loss of the toilets would mean to Llangollen businesses relying heavily on the tourism trade and also to residents themselves.

Although the meeting was inconclusive local MP Becky Gittins and Senedd Member Ken Skates began working behind the scenes to secure an amicable solution to the problem.

Meanwhile, Llangollen Town Council was looking closely at the financial situation to see if anything could be done by them.

And a possible answer was put forward which would see the county and town councils working jointly on a salvage plan.

Basically, while the county would put in a bid for around £40,000 to the Brilliant Basics Fund, which assists in the provision of small-scale tourism infrastructure improvements across Wales, the town council would contribute about £4,000 towards the renovation of the toilets.

The Town Clerk said he confident there was sufficient money in the reserves to cover the amount.

But there has now been a major setback to the plan after Brilliant Basics rejected the funding application.

This has been confirmed by a spokesperson for the county who said: “Denbighshire County Council had recently applied to the Brilliant Basics Fund to upgrade public conveniences and assist in keeping as many of them open as possible, but this funding bid was unsuccessful. 

“Officers are now looking at alternative funding opportunities to secure funds. This will take some time to work through, but the council remains committed and confident that the required funds can be sourced to deliver an effective and sustainable long-term solution to keeping these facilities open where there is a defined need to do so.”

Llangollen county councillor Karen Edwards said: "Since my initial statement on the DCC proposed budget savings measures, which included the prospect of the closure of the public conveniences in Llangollen and other towns in Denbighshire and the subsequent discussions that have taken place which included the consultation process and the draft toilet strategy report,  I have refrained from making any further statements due to the simple fact that I was waiting to see if the application was successful.

"Last week, prior to me attending the Town Council meeting, I emailed the Corporate Director asking for an update and was informed that the authority had just received the disappointing news that the application had been unsuccessful.

 

"The officers will now be exploring alternative funding sources, and I expect to be provided with an update in due course.

 

"Throughout this process I have always vehemently opposed the proposed closure of the public conveniences in Llangollen and will continue to do so for all the reasons that are blatantly obvious, we all know how vital it is to retain these facilities.

 

"I would also like to take this opportunity to extend my gratitude to everyone for their continued proactive support."

Rod Holt, who has campaigned hard to save the toilets and organised last year’s public meeting at the Town Hall, said of the latest development: “An Eisteddfod spokesperson once said, ‘for one week of the year , the eyes of the world are on Llangollen,’ and they had a point.

“In this case though ‘It’s the eyes of the world are always on Llangollen’.

“We all got together to prove that these toilets are vital to Llangollen - residents, day trippers , locals from neighbouring villages, tourists, business owners, disabled people, pensioners, children ,parents, people with medical issues – all need these toilets. So please do not let us down Denbighshire County Council because the eyes of the world are watching.

“I would also like to see statements about this from our local MP Becky Gittins and local Senedd Member and Welsh Minister Ken Skates.”

Ken Skates, Member of the Senedd for Clwyd South said: "While this is clearly disappointing news, Becky and I will continue to work with the council and help them however we can."

Local MP, Becky Gittins, said “I have been in communication with both town council representatives and the DCC leader and I am confident that we will find a way forward. Keeping Llan toilets open to the public is a commitment shared by all parties involved, myself and Ken, DCC and the Town Council, and we will continue to work together to ensure the best outcome for the town.”