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Woodley’s public toilets were closed in 2009 to save £40,000 in annual maintenance costs
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Call to fund public loos from developer cash

By Jon Nurse
July 24, 2012

The row about public toilets in Woodley has been re-ignited following a huge petition calling on councillors to urgently reinstate them.

A petition of 1,600 signatures, led by Greg Bello of Woodley and Whitegates Labour Party, was submitted to the council in May and campaigners expect concillors to discuss it imminently.

Mr Bello said: “There is £200,000 that has been given to the council by the developers of the huge Sandford Farm development for community use and this could be used for a new public toilet facility.

“We have had discussions and there are some units that can be installed in the region of £70,000 for two which can go anywhere in the precinct.”

Campaigners submitted the petition in May but have had to wait for the matter to go before the full council.

Mr Bello added: “I was told the council had discussed the matter recently and it must be at least six months before it can be discussed again. There was some suspicion that it was being deferred until after the local elections but there’s no evidence that’s true.

“When the subject was debated before, some Conservative councillors said the provision was better than what was there before. We don’t know what stance the councillors are going to take but we are hopeful there could be a change of heart.

“I think the availability of Section 106 money could make a difference to the debate this time. I think they have experimented with the Local Loo scheme and found it to be controversial.”

Woodley’s public toilets were closed in 2009 to save £40,000 in annual maintenance costs.

Public toilets across the borough were replaced by Wokingham Borough Council’s Local Loo scheme, which gave businesses a cash incentive for opening toilets to the public.

Mr Bello said: “Since they introduced the Local Loo scheme it has been one of the main issues that has been brought to our attention by residents. They are saying the scheme is inferior to what was there before.Public toilets in Woodley Library are not available for an entire day in the week, and elderly people have told us they find it is too far for them to walk from the precinct to the Oakwood Centre.”

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Most recent user comments 7 of 7

The article says Woodley’s public toilets were closed in 2009 to save £40,000 in annual maintenance costs.

I wondered where the money had gone?

Oh yes - would you believe it! The Tory councillors are giving themselves some more money!

The Executive meeting on 26th July is being asked to approve paying some Tory councillors who are directors of the opaque trading companies that the Tories have formed to take over the councils responsibilities an additional £6095 pounds a year (there are six so that would be over £36,000)

So I guess they don't value public toilets as highly as they value themselves!

Phil Challis, woodley
26/07/2012 at 12:30

Open a public toilet with a cafe inside it. Free pee with a cof fee (otherwise it's 50p per visit)

Woky Local
25/07/2012 at 08:19

Do what most people do in Woodley, go behind a post in the precinct !!

true blue
24/07/2012 at 16:54

The problem with public toilets is not the cost of building them but the cost of servicing and maintenance. This would be considerably reduced if the general public treated them with more respect. You can say with certainty that any new toilet would be subjected to obscene graffitti within a few months of being opened