Public toilet closures to be reconsidered in North Norfolk
Nearly 40% of the loos were recommended to be fully or partially closed to save money
A Norfolk council is rethinking its plans to shut some of its public toilets after the move led to widespread backlash.
Nearly 40pc of the loos were recommended to be fully or partially closed in north Norfolk, in a bid to plug North Norfolk District Council’s growing deficit, forecast to reach £9m in three years.
This includes sites in Stalham, which would have become the only town in the district to not have a public facility, while other sites earmarked for closure included Potter Heigham, Hickling and Walsingham.
The move led to campaigns being launched to save the facilities, with councillors fearing it would disproportionately affect people with health conditions and the elderly.
Others worried visitors, such as the thousands of pilgrims that venture to Walsingham each year, would be affected by the lack of toilets.
But now some of the stringent measures have been curtailed, with terminations either paused or scrapped altogether.
However, some are still going ahead this year.
Toilets saved
In a report to cabinet members at the Liberal Democrat-controlled authority, NNDC has revealed the changes to the closures.
It had intended to close eight loos during the quieter winter months in Cromer, Sheringham, Ludham Bridge, Womack Staithe, Cart Gap and Wells but this has been halted.
This is due to complications due to agreed contracts with SERCO, which maintains the toilets, with officers saying it would have been too “costly and difficult” to manage.
The council also found that visitor numbers to the coast increased significantly during the festive period.
NNDC had planned to shut five of its loos permanently due to low usage but some of these closures have been paused.
Stalham will keep its only public loo for at least 12 months while NNDC investigates opportunities to create a new public facility at the car park on the western side of the high street.
The loo in Walsingham will also be retained until at least March 2026, giving officers time to work with local organisations who may be able to take over running it.
West Runton’s toilet will also continue to be open until the end of September 2025, to allow more time to find alternative arrangements.
Facilities in Hickling will be taken over by Norfolk Wildlife Trust and talks are progressing to hand over the toilet at Potter Heigham to local businesses.
Elsewhere in Weybourne, NNDC has decided to remove a block of temporary toilets it leases, which will save £26,000 a year.
However, it intends to keep a compost toilet at the site.
This is despite complaints that the loos had become unusable due to motorhome owners dumping their chemical toilet waste into it.
The situation had been described as “oppressive” by councillors and it required huge costs to clean it, with the authority racking up a bill of more than £32,000 for the maintenance in 2023/2024.
Budget pressures
NNDC continues to face financial challenges, which it says is primarily caused by the huge rise in the number of people facing homelessness, with the council having to spend about £1m a year providing temporary accommodation.
Closing some of its toilets is one way it is trying to make savings.
In a report to councillors, officers have said there could be more public toilet closures in the future following a planned restructuring of local government.
This will likely see district councils abolished to form multiple unitary authorities.
Officers believe it would be unlikely that the future council would continue to operate the large number of toilets NNDC currently provides – one of the highest numbers in the county – due to the costs involved.
Cabinet members will discuss the toilet closures at a meeting next week.