Sutherland councillor demands report into Golspie public toilets 'fiasco'
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Fresh controversy has erupted over the six months-long closure of public toilets in a Sutherland community.
Highland Council has been accused of keeping the toilets at Golspie shut for longer than necessary and giving misleading information to support the closure - claims which the authority has denied.
Now East Sutherland and Edderton councillor Richard Gale has called for a report into the “fiasco” and Golspie Community Council has lodged a Freedom of Information (FOI) request asking to see all Highland Council communications in the last few months regarding the toilets.
The unique, round toilet block in the centre of the village was closed in November and only reopened fully this week. Its loss has been keenly felt by visitors and locals alike with claims the local economy has suffered because people who would normally have stopped in the village are now bypassing it.
The authority said the toilets had been shut after the door to the gent’s section had been staved in, with a crowbar thought to have been used. It said a new £3100 steel door had been ordered on February 20 and the delay in reopening the toilets lay with the supplier.
But at a meeting of Golspie Community council on Monday evening it was revealed that the toilets had suddenly reopened after a local joiner appeared and fixed the existing door.
Community councillors are now claiming the vandalism was not as serious as had been made out and the toilets could have been reopened much earlier. And questions are also being asked if a new steel door had actually been ordered and, if so, when.
Golspie and Edderton ward councillor Richard Gale said at the meeting that he had asked Highland Council head of services Caroline Campbell to investigate the closure and produce a report. He is due to meet her next week.
“I am disappointed that we found ourselves with a closed toilet that did not need to be closed,” he said. I can only apologise for the fact we have found ourselves with an extended closure. It is a sorry state of affairs and we will see if we can get to the bottom of it.”
And he added: “If get a report of vandalism in future I will go and check the toilets myself before I agree to any closure.”
Community council chairman Ian Sutherland told Cllr Gale: “I think you need to strongly represent the opinions and feelings of the village when you are at this meeting. We are extremely upset. They have said they have been vandalised and all the time they have not.”
Secretary Henrietta Marriott said she had lodged the FOI asking for “all information and correspondence of all ordering of the door”.
Community councillor Ian Miller disclosed the contents of an email he had received from a Highland Council employee, whose name was redacted, after he had brought to their attention this week that the disabled toilet was not clearing.
The email read: “No third party should ever be involved in our operations as they are not insured to carry out repairs, inspections or make changes to our operations. You can pass this information on to anyone who interferes with our operations.”
Condemning the tone of the email, he said: “It does not seem to get through to them that all we are doing is trying to help.”
A Highland Council spokesman said there had been "no misinformation" and reiterated that a replacement steel door had been ordered in February and the supplier had failed to meet their delivery dates.
He said: "Delays to the delivery of the steel door became unacceptable to the council. Due to the need to get the site open, the council asked a local contractor to attend the site and make a temporary repair to the door.
"This is not a permanent solution and the steel door is seen as the most robust solution to reduce the impact of vandalism."
