Loo closures: not being able to spend a penny at five public toilets will save Wirral £50,000

Wirral Council has confirmed that it will close five of its nine public toilets in the borough, including facilities at Thornton Hough and West Kirby.

Members of the authority's economy, regeneration and housing committee voted to go ahead with proposals to shut toilets at Moreton Cross, West Kirby Concourse, Meols Parade, New Ferry and Thornton Hough. Facilities at West Kirby Marine Lake, Harrison Drive in New Brighton, Hoylake and Moreton Common will remain despite closures elsewhere.

Wirral Council is closing the loos in a bid to make major savings, after a vote in February in which the authority agreed to make £20m worth of budget cuts. This followed two damning reports which criticised the council for not making tough decisions.

The closure of the five public toilets is expected to generate a much needed £50,000. 

The meeting was told that consultation held with residents found 88% used public toilets and 86% disagreed with the planned closures. Jeannette Royle, senior manager, asset management at Wirral Council said four of the sites had not re-opened since before the coronavirus pandemic due to the "enhanced cleaning regimes required" while Thornton Hough was used briefly during last weekend's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

The four toilets remaining in use were chosen as they "meet the needs of residents and visitors due to their location, frequency of use, ability to maintain good cleaning standards and in maintaining a good provision of toilet facilities within a given radius". The council also argued reducing the number of toilets would allow for more investment in those which will remain.

Cllr Lesley Rennie said public toilets were "absolutely essential" particularly "for people who are isolated, it ticks the box and it gets people out and therefore loneliness is lessened for them." Her fellow Conservative councillor Ian Lewis said he was "delighted" some public toilets would remain, he urged the council to spend money on refurbing the existing sites, naming Harrison Drive as being "particularly grotty on the outside."

He said the public needed to see that the council wasn't simply just cutting services and would come back in a year's time to close the remaining sites. In the case of New Ferry closure, the toilet falls within an area set to be demolished and redeveloped in an effort to regenerate the town following a gas explosion more than five years ago. 

As for Moreton, the redeveloped library will have toilet facilities in the future, as will a new supermarket, while the presence of other public toilets in the area was given as part of the justification for closing public toilets in Meols, West Kirby and Thornton Hough. The committee voted in favour for the closure and deemed the facilities surplus to requirement.

It also enabled Alan Evans, director of regeneration and place to consider other options for the sites including marketing them for sale and subsequent disposal. Ms Royle said there were no current firm plans in place for the toilets, including no immediate plans for them to be knocked down.

A procurement process is currently underway to replace toilets at Vale Park in New Brighton after they were destroyed by a falling tree during Storm Arwen in November last year.