Waste centres U-turn plea rejected
THE operators of the Concourse Shopping Centre have come under fire after closing its public toilets.
Toilet facilities have been closed at the Skelmersdale shopping centre since last month in a bid to restrict the spread of Covid-19, despite a number of essential shops remaining open.
Skelmersdale North councillor Neil Furey contacted the centre after receiving complaints from residents and believes bosses should reconsider the decision.
Cllr Furey was told by centre manager Gary Mitchell that the toilets were closed to “maintain social distancing for the safety of customers and also our staff”.
Mr Mitchell also explained that housekeeping and security staff were able to provide a radar key for the disabled toilets, something which is not explained on signs in the centre.
But the councillor said that while guidelines were being adhered to in the rest of the centre there should be no reason why the same wouldn’t happen in the toilets.
He said one visitor told him they had to leave a queue at the shopping centre to use their own
WASTE and recycling centres in Skelmersdale and Burscough will not open until the lockdown ends, Lancashire County Council has said.
Plans are being made for a phased reopening of the centres, which would see restrictions imposed on the number of cars and types of waste being disposed of.
But the county council’s head of waste management, Steve Scott, said that the social distancing rules made it unsafe to open the facilities.
He said: “We closed our recycling centres in line with government advice because we could not keep them operating safely while enabling anyone using them, and our own staff, to observe social distancing rules.
“I accept this will have caused some inconvenience; however, our focus has been to work closely to support district council collections to allow people to dispose of normal household waste, and prevent any hygiene issues from developing as far as possible.” toilet at home, meaning they had made two trips instead of one.
One resident contacted the Advertiser to say the closures had worsened the stress associated with shopping during the coronavirus outbreak.
She said: “Asda’s toilets remain open, so why on earth are the Concourse centre denying customers the basic human right to a toilet facility. I suffer from anxiety and have only just got into social distancing, plus the queues, and now I have the stress of doing without any toilet facilities; so unfair.”
Cllr Furey has called on the centre to reconsider the decision, saying: “During my shopping trips to the Concourse, I have been very reassured with the observance of
His comments came after calls were made for the centres to reopen on a managed basis to combat complaints of fly-tipping around the borough. The county council closed all of its household waste and recycling centres last month.
County Cllr John Fillis, who represents
Skelmersdale, has asked leaders to consider opening Skelmersdale and Burscough tips on alternate days from 9am-2pm, with a limit of two vehicles at a time.
He said that concerns were growing that the increased fly-tipping and household waste being mixed with recycling was attracting vermin and creating extra health risks. social distancing inside and outside the stores which have remained open.
“I am therefore a little perplexed that the public cannot be trusted with social distancing when using public toilets. I can see no reason why such measures cannot be introduced at your toilets and I would expect these to be observed.
“I am pleased that disabled facilities have been made available to customers
The waste centre in Wigan was reopened last week, while community skips are being placed around West Lancashire by the borough council, but both solutions have resulted in long queues, raising issues surrounding social distancing.
Cllr Kate Mitchell, who represents Our West
Lancashire on the borough council, has also called for the centres to reopen to prevent fly-tipping and garden fires, echoing pleas from the fire service that such fires posed a risk to neighbours with breathing problems and use the service’s alreadystretched resources.
She said: “Regrettably, fly-tipping incidents have by obtaining a Radar key from your staff, although I’m disappointed that some store staff appear unaware of these arrangements. I am also disappointed that hand sanitisers have not been made available for customers to use.
“I trust the closure and provision of these facilities is subject to constant review, so people are not inconvenienced for longer than necessary.”
A spokesman for LCP, increased in recent days and also complaints about garden fires. Many residents are having to store waste at home, which is made worse by the current lockdown and the spring-cleaning season. Obviously, any reopening of the waste and recycling centres would need to be carefully planned but the county council should be announcing their plans now.”
According to Mr Scott, those proposals are being considered but will not happen until the government lifts its restrictions.
He said: “We are being advised that we have not yet reached the peak of the pandemic in Lancashire, and I’d ask people to remember that the overwhelming reason for our decision to keep our sites closed is to prevent the spread of the virus. Even when the sites do reopen this is likely to be on a very limited basis to allow people to dispose of any excess household waste, without the opportunities to recycle a range of types of waste as in normal times.” the property firm which operates the centre, said: “The Concourse Shopping Centre has closed the toilets on site as part of our Covid-19 response to best safeguard visitors to the centre. The centre remains open to meet the needs of the community with access to essential stores.
“We continue to take the cleanliness of the centre extremely seriously, to ensure common areas are as clean as they can be, while urging and practising social distancing throughout.”