Political silence
Sir, The decision, following the debate about the mainland port for the Arran ferry, is apparently imminent and there are more leaks about that than there are in a day tripper’s fishing net. In addition, North Ayrshire Council (NAC) are already embroiled in another heated topic of their own making – the. closure of Arran’s public toilets.
Readers may be forgiven for thinking that this matter is under control and that the problem had been, as it were, flushed away. That is a false impression and the fact remains that unless the toilets are adopted by village communities by Friday March 31, and not all of them will be, the demolition will follow, according to council officers.
It should be emphasised that all of our political representatives (MSP, MP and North Ayrshire Council) have been conspicuous by their silence on this topic in contrast to their recent fervourant attempts to grab headlines and publicity with anything harbour related.
It is true that there is no statutory requirement for NAC to provide public toilets, while, ironically, the provision of dog waste depositories is a requirement. That is not something a modern, progressive, tourist-dependent Scotland should be proud of. Holyrood has been caught short.
While some of the village communities are making arrangements to adopt and manage toilets or find alternative premises, others for various reasons cannot. Blackwaterfoot toilet for example is in a very dangerous location and the one adjacent to Lochranza pier is unsuitable for disabled access and CalMac apparently refuse to consider adoption or the provision of an alternative.
The person responsible for all of this is the executive director of place at North Ayrshire Council who has said: ‘In terms of toilets we really value these facilities but we have a number of competing demands’.The next time he has urgent need of a toilet whilst out and about I would ask him to reflect on that comment and conclude at that time which is his most ‘competing demand’ and therefore highest priority. If he doesn’t know now he will then.
The lack of investment in the toilets over many years is a disgrace and some could barely even be described as basic. At the same time, it is frustrating to note from the Arran perspective that some toilets in mainland towns, nearest to NAC’s Council Chambers in Irvine, are to remain open and to continue to receive public funding. There are those whose ambition it is, (supported by NAC) to promote Arran as a ‘world class’ destination. The toilets that NAC wish to transfer are a long way short of that category.
Transport Scotland has revealed that ferry passenger figures to Arran are up 17 per cent. This is a consequence of the successful government subsidised RET (Road Equivalent Tariff) which was designed to promote tourism and boost island economies, and in that regard it has been a success. Yet as numbers increase NAC want to close public toilets on Arran.
NAC, have supported the Ardrossan-Brodick ferry route, largely for the economy of the Ardrossan hinterland. There is an hypocrisy here in that the NAC are set to receive several tens of millions of pounds to regenerate those areas, other than the harbour area. Surely £40,000 from that sum can be found to keep Arran’s toilets open or better, £80,000 to make them usable.
Yours, Neil Arthur Kilpatrick