A Denbighshire Council plan to sell-off public toilets and pay businesses £500 a year to make toilets available for the public has gone out to consultation following a Council Cabinet vote on 17th December. The ‘Draft Toilets Strategy’ will entail the creation of a proposed community toilet scheme (CTS), which hopes to see local businesses such as shops and cafes make toilets available for public use. The Report states that “The maximum grant payment in Denbighshire County Council’s CTS is currently £500 per annum.” The strategy will also involve the closure of council-owned public conveniences.
Vale of Clwyd MS, Gareth Davies, opposed the plans when they were first mooted in August 2024 and wrote to both Denbighshire County Council and the Welsh Government expressing his concerns over Denbighshire County Council’s reconsideration of its Local Toilet Strategy. In his letter to the council, he outlined the impact that toilet closures would have on the most vulnerable people in the county and suggests other avenues to mitigate the costs of operating public toilets.
Mr Davies has outlined his renewed opposition to the plan, citing how similar plans rolled out in England have fared poorly, and commenting that if the new strategy led to a decrease in public toilet provision, the most vulnerable people will be affected. A senior officer at Denbighshire County Council also remarked that the ‘Draft Toilets Strategy’ is a “difficult sell.” Mr Davies has today urged all residents to use the online portal to have their say in the Council’s ‘Draft Toilets Strategy’ consultation.
Click here to access the Denbighshire County Council's online consultation portal.
Commenting on Denbighshire County Council’s Draft Toilets Strategy Consultation, Gareth said:
“This daft plan involves the council selling off the taxpayer-owned public toilets and instead siphoning off a measly sum of cash to local businesses to allow members of the public to use their facilities.
“Similar plans tried elsewhere have proven unpopular with both businesses and the public, and invariably end up fewer toilets available for public use, hitting the elderly and most vulnerable in our community the hardest.
“I strongly urge all residents to access the consultation through the online portal and state their opposition to the Council’s daft new toilet strategy.”