Toilets to close due to cost of vandalism
TWO OF FOUR PUBLIC BLOCKS IN A TOWN WILL SOON BE SHUT
SOME of Wigston’s public toilets will be closed because of vandalism.
Oadby and Wigston Borough Council has spent more than £8,000 in the past three years repairing the blocks after they have been damaged.
Vandals have pulled cubicle doors off, ripped a grab rail from the wall, smashed a disabled alarm and wrecked radar door locks. Graffiti has also been removed several times from the blocks.
Councillor Bill Boulter said: “We’ve had to make the hard decision to close the Junction Road car park toilets from April.
“They are past their sell-by date, need a lot spending on them and we have a lot of people complain about them.
“Just down the road are the Peace Park toilets and a business has agreed to open up its toilets for the public to use.”
Members of the authority’s service delivery committee came to the decision on Tuesday.
The disabled toilet in Willow Park has been closed since the last incident of vandalism, 194 days ago. It was decided this week the whole block will be closed permanently from April.
Coun Boulter said: “The problem is vandalism. If it weren’t for a few people, this would be a different story.
“Because of their actions the public suffer. They’ve pulled handles off the wall, damaged dryers and smashed the radar locks, which are very expensive to replace.
“Given the reducing amount of government finance we receive we can’t afford to keep repairing the toilets. This is the latest of some tough decisions we’ve had to make.”
Officers said last night that “significant capital expenditure” of £28,000 would be needed to keep all four of the blocks open, on top of the normal running costs.
Peace Park toilets will stay open, as will the block at Wigston Cemetery.
Closing all of the toilets would have saved the authority about £21,000 a year. It is not yet known how much it will cost to keep the blocks that will stay open.