Kington Town Council to consider taking over public toilets in the town
A working party has been set up to look into the takeover of Kington’s public toilets by the town council
Kington Town Council is considering taking over the public toilets in Place De Marines after many complaints about them.
The Mill Street toilets were described by Kington County Councillor Terry James as 'appalling' and he said both local residents and visitors deserve better.
Local businesses have also complained about the toilets and their effect on tourism.
Herefordshire Council, which currently manages the toilets say they are currently undertaking a review of toilets in the county and they would consider a community asset transfer to Kington Town Council.
Councillor James said: “I have seen the same piece of gum in the urinals that I saw there the week before. It is appalling.
“Every other market town maintains their public toilets and they do it far more efficiently, in my point of view. There is an opportunity to negotiate given the state of them at the moment.”
Town clerk Liz Kelso said she had asked for the running costs of the toilets from Herefordshire Council for the last few years.
The figures they provided for 2022, 2023 and 2024 show cleaning costs of between £11,000 and £12,000 and maintenance costs of between £9,000 and £15,000.
The council agreed that it would be happy to continue a conversation with Herefordshire Council about taking on the toilets.
But Councillor James said he would be opposed to any handover of the toilets without a major refurbishment to get them to a far better standard than they are now.
They set up a working part of Deputy Mayor Councillor Martin Woolford and Councillors Bob Widdowson, Buzz Bishop and Rae Morgan and they will report their findings back to the full council.
