Hope that public toilets at a Knighton tourist attraction will be open by the start of the school summer holidays

Knighton Town Council will sign a new lease for the newly refurbished toilets at the Offa’s Dyke Centre, to ensure they remain open for local residents and visitors.

The toilets have been refurbished thanks to a Powys County Council grant and the town council has agreed to take them.

A meeting of the town council was told this week that legionella tests have been done and the results are expected within the next fortnight.

Town clerk Lorian Craggs Alferoff said the council has had a copy of the new lease and there are a couple of new clauses relating to the council being responsible for the windows and grates but she said everything else is the same as before.

She said; “We should be able to sign it soon. The electrical tests have been done and the legionella tests have been done and the results usually take about 15 days at the most.”

Knighton Mayor Councillor Tom Taylor and Councillor Andrew Craggs said the town council could sign the lease while it waits for the legionella test results and they said Powys County Council should be told that the toilets must be open for the beginning of the summer holidays.

Deputy Mayor Councillor Tina Sharp said she and Councillor Chris Branford had been to look at the toilets recently and the bottom of the door to the store cupboard and the disabled toilets is starting to split. She said it was suggested that a metal plate could be fitted at the bottom but she said she thought Powys County Council should be told.

Councillor Sharp said: “Are we responsible for the façade because some of the slate is loose and I think that should be reported to the county council too. Apart from that everything seems in good order.”

Councillor Craggs said he felt the town council was ‘almost there’.

He added; “The holidays are coming at us like a steam train, a lot of people are already doing lots of walks and I think all these points are worth pursuing but I don’t want it to cause any delays.”

Knighton Mayor Councillor Tom Taylor said they are minor repairs that need doing but apart from that the toilets are fit to open.

Members agreed to sign the lease while they wait for the legionella test results and then urge Powys County Council to sign it off so the toilets can open as soon as possible.

A spokesperson for Powys County Council said: “We are working with Knighton Town Council to open the Offa’s Dyke Toilets as soon as possible.”

The Offa’s Dyke Centre is owned by Powys County Council, although the Offa’s Dyke Association is the tenant and runs it

The town council ran the toilets until April 2021 when they handed the lease back to Powys County Council but it paid for portable toilets at the site over that summer.