Montrose beach toilets fiasco

Madam, –You have to laugh at the latest fiasco that Angus Council and the Montrose councillors have created – the toilets at the seafront splash facility at Montrose.

The toilets were originally at the Beach Pavilion, owned by the people of Montrose.

They were not the best and most modern, but they were acceptable.

Then councillors decide to sell the Beach Pavilion, effectively closing the toilets. Now there were no toilets at the beach.

Panic by the local councillors ensues as a public outcry about lack of toilets erupts.

Council approaches a local business man with a café at the beach front and begs him to make his toilets, and thereby effectively his business, a public toilet. Obviously he refuses.

So council sites two portable toilets at the beach; most of the public find these unacceptable and begin to complain.

Councillors try to lay blame on the poor cafe owner who ‘ would not cooperate’.

Now they are looking for £300,000 to upgrade the seafront including, I presume, new toilets.

I understand the new owner of the Beach Pavilion would like to create a classy restaurant in the building.

Perhaps the council can make a planning condition that the development must include a toilet facility available to the general public. After all, that is what the building was originally intended to be, and I understand it was sold for a knock-down price.

They could even have made this a condition of sale.

Another option would be to buy the existing beach café at another huge cost to the public and convert it to toilets.

When will the council learn to think of all the consequences before they act?

Bill Crowe.

1 Castle Street, Montrose.