Councillors hope community asset transfers can save our loos

As previously reported by the Herald, the loos at The Braes in Saltcoats - the last council-owned public toilets still open in the Three Towns - had been earmarked by the local authority for closure if no community group comes forward to take them on.

A report prepared for NAC's cabinet asked for councillors' approval for a two-month consultation process, starting in February, to try and engage with local groups - but warned that if there were no expressions of interest at the end of those two months, the facility at The Braes, along with four other council-owned public loos in Largs, would be closed.

However, after the idea attracted an angry response from some councillors, the authority's cabinet agreed to remove the reference to "closure" at the end of the engagement process.

Carolyn Hope, NAC's senior manager for facilities management, told last Tuesday’s cabinet meeting that just seven public toilets were operated by the council - but that they were the subject of complaints from the public about their age, poor condition and vandalism.

And now ways are being explored of keeping them open, the cabinet heard.

Some progress has been made with community asset transfers, including at Ardrossan South Beach, where the Ardrossan Community Development Trust is building a new cafe and community hub which will include toilet facilities.

The council says that groups which go through a community asset transfer process for other toilets would be able to apply for grant funding that isn't available to the local authority itself.

Closing the toilets, or transferring them to community ownership, would save the council £87,000 on utility bills, management, operational costs, repairs and maintenance.

Following the decision to row back from the idea of closing the toilets, a further report will now be presented to the cabinet in April once the results of the community engagement process are known.