Largs community groups urged to come up with toilets plan

North Ayrshire Council insists that its plans - revealed by the News on Thursday - will 'improve quality' and will contribute to community wellbeing.

A new report sets out plans to hold an engagement exercise in the hope that community groups will express interest in taking on the toilets at Brookfield, Aubery, Mackerston and the Pencil.

The report says that if the engagement exercise doesn't result in any expressions of interest, the four facilities will all be shut in April.

The report will go before NAC's cabinet on Tuesday, January 24.

It says that after spending £300,000 on upgrade works, the Gallowgate toilets in Largs will continue to be supported through the Largs car park fund and through a contactless pay-on-entry facility.

But the document sparked an angry response from North Coast ward councillors Tom Marshall (Conservative) and Ian Murdoch (Independent).

Councillor Marshall said: "This decision is being promoted by council bosses who have failed to consult local councillors.

"It is not a done deal as far as I am concerned and is just a further example of the failure of North Ayrshire Council officers to spend money in this area for the benefit of locals and tourists alike."

Councillor Murdoch added: "The only reason that these other public toilets have stayed open in Largs is because the seafront car park has been paying to maintain them. There has been no consultation with local members about this.

Pencil toilets were boarded up in 2021 (Image: Newsquest)

"I am certainly not happy about the estimated current required investment of improvement in Broomfields which is £62.000, Mackerston Place is £73,000 and the Pencil is £60,000.

"The last round of proposed asset transfers for closure would result in savings of £87,000 per annum. 

"I am not against the adoption by a community group taking over the toilets but I am not happy at giving up prime assets to the town if they were to then subsequently close."

A news release issued by the council on Friday insisted the authority was "continuing to improve the quality of its public conveniences through creative partnership working with community organisations".

In that release, North Coast SNP councillor Alan Hill, cabinet member for communities and islands, said: “We have witnessed a fantastic success story at Ardrossan South Beach where Ardrossan Community Development Trust have taken ownership of the public conveniences and have exciting plans to transform it into a fantastic facility.

“Indeed on Cumbrae and West Kilbride, local community groups have stepped forward to take responsibility for the public toilets and have done a fantastic job.

Aubery has had a men's toilet operating, but the women's toilet has been out of order for more than a year (Image: Newsquest)

“We would be delighted to hear from any community groups who have ideas about how through partnership working they can be improved, regenerated or re-purposed and we will provide the relevant support to assist them in developing their proposals.”

Following the two-month consultation period to determine levels of community interest, a further report will be completed in the spring to be considered by elected members.

Largs Community Council chairman Jim Phillips said: "It rings alarm bells for me as the council want someone to take on the responsibilty of the public toilets plus the additional costs for improvements."

Community councillor Jamie Black described it as 'asset-stripping', and questioned why public opinion and councillors were not consulted previous to the Cabinet paper coming out.

However, as North Ayrshire Council faces up to a current debt of £240 million, Cllr Hill responded: "The council paper at Cabinet is proposing a consultation. The council wouldn't normally run a consultation about having a consultation.

"This is a paper about a public consultation about what to do with the toilets and whether there is any interest in taking them on. The toilets are already run by community groups on Cumbrae, Arran, West Kilbride, Ardrossan and Irvine.

"There may well be an appetite in Largs to look at that and to do that. The council does not have the money to refurbish them so something has to give.

"The council is not going to refurbish toilets in Largs given community groups are running them elsewhere, and it is highly unlikely that councillors in other areas of North Ayrshire would agree to that."