Councillor claims Brodgar visitors need toilet-trained

An Orkney councillor has said people must be trained not to “defecate in public” as plans were agreed to deal with a lack of toilets at the Ring of Brodgar.

It was decided this week that permanent loos should be built at the Unesco World Heritage Site.

However, it will be 2027 at the earliest before they are ready to be used, according to a report.

So, in the meantime, signs should be put in place to guide visitors to the other nearest toilets in the area, councillors agreed.

And Councillor Duncan Tullock declared: “We’ve got to train the public not to defecate where there are no facilities. It’s as simple as that.”

Monthly cleaning of the site’s car park will also take place from May to September for three years under the agreed plans.

The issues caused by the lack of toilets were debated by councillors towards the end of last year.

Reports had been coming in of visitors using the nearby lochside or road verge due to the lack of facilities.

However, with plans to build temporary seasonal toilets estimated to cost £95,000, Orkney councillors were unhappy with a £4,000 offer from Historic Environment Scotland (HES), which is responsible for the site, to help cover the costs.

Councillors dubbed the offer “shameful” and decided it was better to go back to the drawing board.

At this week’s committee meeting, councillors viewed a report which set out three new options.

They chose Option 3, which would see permanent toilets put in place at a cost of £60,000.

The report notes that the cost would be shared by the council and HES. However, officers warned the process was likely to take three years because of the “complexity” of the project.

The scheme will require a feasibility study to be carried out and a building warrant and planning permission granted.

The next report on the toilets is due in November this year.

Councillors also agreed that the car park will be cleaned monthly and there would also be new signs directing visitors to the nearest toilets.

These measures are thought to cost around £1,000 per year for the cleaning and £4,000 to install the new signage.

While councillors unanimously agreed on the recommendations, Councillor Owen Tierney asked why a temporary, portable toilet couldn’t be put in place.

He was told that to have anything at the site for more than 28 days, the full planning permission and building warrant would still be needed, as would surveys.

The council’s head of enterprise and economic growth, Sweyn Johnston, said: “You couldn’t imagine a more restrictive site, in terms of trying to put anything in there.”

Mr Tullock compared the need to train the public to toilet-training his puppy.

He added: “It’s against the law to defecate in public.

“If we give them the information there is a toilet two miles away and another one three miles away, we’ve got coach drivers who can say it’s the last stop for the next hour. It’s not insurmountable.

“We’ve got to train the public not to defecate where there are no facilities. It’s as simple as that.”

The plans will now go on to the full council to be ratified.

RING OF IRE: The lack of facilities at Brodgar has caused concern.