No-go disability toilet is embarrassing, says local businessman
Will Ganavan’s toilets stay open all year round in 2023? The answer still needs flushing out, Oban Community Council has heard.
Community councillor and snack van operator Dougie Graham has already written to the Scottish Government asking for clarification.
He told fellow community councillors at the January Zoom meeting last week: ‘We should not have to be begging for facilities,’ and he said people living locally should be able to get some benefit from tourist money coming into the town, using it to help fund keeping the toilets open during the off-peak season.
He also raised the additional problem that when the toilets are closed, the locked gate means there is no access to the disabled facility.
‘It’s embarrassing and it’s appalling,’ he said. ‘The only place in Britain you can’t get access to a disabled toilet is Ganavan. Welcome to 2022.
‘This should not be all about money. The council has an obligation to people. I’m looking for them to stay open year through,’ he said.
Oban councillor Roddy McCuish said one way of sorting the opening problem would be to relieve Argyll and Bute of the burden.
In October last year, The Oban Times reported how demands were made for Argyll and Bute Council to spend some of its leftover Covid funding on keeping the toilets open over winter.
With less than 10 days before the toilets were due to close, a letter signed by 13 groups who regularly use the popular spot and its public conveniences was sent to council bosses.
The following month it was announced that Ganavan would be one of six council-run facilities that would be staying open when traditionally they would close until April. Crinan, Ulva, Kilchattan Bay, Glenmorag and Sandy Beach near Dunoon were the others.
But it was made clear by the council at the time that the funding to keep them open was only a one-off.
A spokesperson for Argyll and Bute Council warned: ‘This is a one-off allocation from Covid funding and there is no budget beyond this current financial year from existing budget allocations.’
Oban Community Council is still waiting for a breakdown of the £91,000 that Argyll and Bute Council says it spends on toilets.
‘We should not have to be begging for facilities...’