Scarborough town mayor ‘disappointed’ by lack of public toilets

​Thomas Murray, the town mayor of Scarborough, is disappointed that alternative town centre toilets were not provided by North Yorkshire Council after the Brunswick Centre was closed to the public.

​Residents have said that a lack of toilet facilities in Scarborough town centre is putting people off visiting the high street and negatively impacting local businesses.

​Reform’s Cllr Murray said: “When NYC knew it was going to be closed, they could have arranged something so people could go a little bit inside the Brunswick, if it had been factored into the planning considerations.”

Scarborough Town Council is not responsible for toilets and has refused to accept additional responsibilities unless it receives more money from North Yorkshire Council.

Scarborough Brunswick Centre. Courtesy Numminen/Ldrs

​At a full meeting of NYC last month, Independent Cllr Rich Maw said: “The closure of the Brunswick Centre has left a significant gap and is affecting residents, visitors, and local businesses.

​“The issue is already having a clear impact on accessibility and town centre footfall, and its unsustainably as the busy holiday season approaches.”

​Bosses at NYC said they were “still looking for partners within the town that are large enough that we can give them money so we can use their facilities in that area” and were not able to provide a timeline for replacements.

A community toilet initiative launched by STC this spring offered a financial incentive to local businesses that would offer their toilet facilities for public use, but it did not lead to any agreements.

​Cllr Murray, said: “We all know toilets take quite a long time to organise and set up, so we came up with the community toilet scheme, and we’ve explored that with businesses.

​“However, it’s been quite a difficult thing to engage with businesses, and there haven’t been any businesses that have come, and even though it’s voluntary, with a financial incentive, it’s been difficult to encourage businesses to get involved in that.”

​Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), he suggested that toilets could be placed in the town centre on Vernon Road: “You could put them outside Iceland; however, you’ve got to look at plumbing, you’ve still got to get planning permission for them, you’ve got to think about vandalism.

“Even with portable cabin toilets, you’re still looking at over £100,000. And for North Yorkshire Council, that’s still a lot of money, and for Scarborough Town Council, that is a hell of a lot of money.

​“But we have been in talks with North Yorkshire Council to see how we can get that need filled for the town centre as we sort of go into summer.”

​Last month, Cllr Richard Foster, NYC’s executive member for managing the environment, said the authority was continuing to look at alternative provision, and is still looking for partners within the town that are “large enough that we can give them money so we can use their facilities in that area”.

​“Alongside that, the council is still looking at putting some short-term toilets in that area. It’s just where to site them, because if you’re a business, you don’t really want a set of public toilets outside.

​​“We continue to work on it because it’s an issue that won’t go away.”