Closure of loos is THE election issue

Jamie MacDonald • Published 6 May 2010 10:52 8 Comments

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The Big Debate was dominated by questions to the candidates about the closure of the toilets. (photo Jan van der Merwe)

Political parties have been desperate to influence where people will put their cross at tomorrow's General Election but, for many, it is where local folk can spend a penny that is their main issue of concern.

The closure of the public toilets in Alloa town centre has sparked a storm of protest in recent weeks from the community and traders and it has now become an election issue with the candidates fighting it out for the Ochil and South Perthshire seat.

And on Friday, radio listeners across the country got an idea of the number one talking point in Clackmannanshire. BBC Radio Scotland's political programme Brian's Big Debate was broadcast live from Alloa Town Hall and the topic members of the audience wanted to discuss most was the 'Save oor lavvies' campaign.

After the show BBC Scotland's political editor, Brian Taylor, told the Advertiser, "I hadn't realised the public conveniences were so high up the agenda."

The decision to close the loos at Maple Court, in addition to the public toilets in Tillicoultry and Tullibody, was made by Clackmannanshire Council when the budget for the current financial year was set.

Since then council leader Janet Cadenhead has said closing the toilets was preferable to cutting services relied upon by vulnerable people.

A petition opposing the closure was organised by Alloa Central Community Council and last week it was handed in to the council headquarters at Greenfield House with over 2400 signatures.

Local politicians have been quick to back the campaign before the electorate head for the voting booths.

Annabelle Ewing and Gerald Michaluk, the SNP and Conservative candidates have spoken of their support for the Alloa Central petition.

And Labour's Gordon Banks criticised the council over the closure saying, "I remain convinced this is the wrong decision."

His opponents claim Mr Banks has changed his stance on the issue, pointing to a letter written to a constituent on the subject.

In the letter, Mr Banks states, "I can understand your concern, but my understanding is, the decision by the council was taken as a money saving exercise which will save Clackmannanshire Council tens of thousands of pounds per year."

The letter goes on to list alternative conveniences at nearby supermarkets and says that "other locations are being identified for public access".

He adds, "Opportunities for the public to access toilet facilities will in fact, be greatly increased."

Mr Michaluk said, "This is typical of Gordon. He did the same over the Post Office Closures, which have affected so many in rural areas of Ochil and South Perthshire, where he allegedly voted at Westminster to close the Post Offices and then campaigned locally to keep them open."

Donald Balsillie, SNP group leader at Clackmannanshire Council, said, "Gordon Banks first backs the toilet closures and then last week agrees with Annabelle Ewing 'that this is the wrong decision'. Perhaps this is something to do with the £2.4m Scottish Governments investment in Alloa as well as the 3,000 person petition."

It has also emerged that David Westland, chairman of Alloa Town Centre BID, has written to council leader Janet Cadenhead enquiring whether a feasibility study could be carried out on the potential of re-opening the toilets under BID management.

Mr Banks said, "If Clackmannanshire Council is not prepared to look again at this matter and re-open these facilities then I would urge them to accept the offer from Alloa Town Centre BID team to allow them to carry out a feasibility study on the possibility of the BIDS team taking over responsibility of the toilets."

The timing and nature of the BID letter has been questioned by SNP councillor Mark English.

He said, "I would like to make clear to concerned traders that the BID was not set up to replace council functions.

"My concern is based around the letter by David Westland. In it he expresses his concern regarding the closure of the facility stating that the BID would like to do a feasibility study regarding the operation of the toilets but signs off the letter to Ms Cadenhead stating, 'On behalf of the BID board, we wish you every success over the coming years.'"

Mr English added, "This is clearly unacceptable in the run up to an election and brings into question the impartiality of the BIDs board and their future dealings with the council."

Mr Westland responded saying, "Our allegiances lie with no party, we are interested only in what is best for the traders of Alloa town centre. The sentence was a way of rounding off the letter, it's nice to be nice, and there are no undertones to it."

He added, "Some of the traders within the town approached us over the closure as we are spending all this money to make the centre more attractive but shutting down the convenience."

The BID team have held a meeting with Ms Cadenhead and the council chief executive Angela Leitch to determine whether it would be feasible for BID to run the loos.

Mr Westland continued, "We are waiting to hear a break down of the costs. We will have to crunch the numbers and see if there is an alternative to closing the toilets."

Speaking on the choices faced by the council and the decision to do away with the public conveniences Ms Cadenhead said, "The decision to close the Maple Court toilets as part of the budget savings was taken in the knowledge that reasonable alternatives were available and this choice was preferable to cutting services that vulnerable people rely on.

"The biggest spend is social care and care for the elderly and we are trying to protect that."

She added, "Isn't it about time that politicians, at all levels, engaged in an honest debate regarding public sector cuts and savings. To my mind it shows a lack of respect for the public's common sense and intelligence to suggest that there are easy, painless and universally popular savings options available - they are all difficult choices."

Have your say. Post a comment on this article.

rainbowjen
Unregistered User
May 6, 00:29
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I was in Alloa shopping yesterday when my 6yr old daughter suddenly decided she needed the loo, at the time I was at the Clydesdale bank & then was heading to the card shop in the Main Street, then Iceland & Poundland, since the public toilets in Alloa were closed I ended up having to rush down to Tesco to let her use the loo there. Since I was already in the store I then purchased what I was going to spend in the town centre as I didnt have time to walk back up to the shops, so this is an example of money being spent in the Supermarkets (they make enought profit as it is!)& not in the Alloa shops, this will affect businesses & there are far too many empty shops in Alloa as it is!!!!

Remember young children need access to public toilets nearby as they usually leave it till last minute! Its also quite a hassle having to walk to a supermarket if your baby needs its nappy changed.

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council worker
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May 6, 15:42
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I would have thought the single status would have been an a election issue as many of the voters work with clackmananshire council like myself who is getting £4,500 slashed off my £15,500 in 3 yrs time

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Incredulous
Unregistered User
May 7, 18:48
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Council worker, you're living in cloud cuckoo land. No one outside Council workers give a toss about your single status thing. Wake and smell the coffee. And as for the toilets being THE issue of the election, that will be why Banks increased his majority massively when Ewing's only campaign point in a national election was the lavvies.

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Craig Hutchinson
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May 8, 18:43
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Well at least Ewing showed support over the issue of the toilets being re-opened - unlike Banks who wrote a contemptuous letter explaining there was now a greater choice for the public. I would have expected my MP to tackle such an important issue rather than hiding from it - O wait he's Gordon Banks....

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meg
Unregistered User
May 8, 23:57
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I visited the high st in Alloa today and noticed there are a few parking bays now lost To allow seats and statues but all i could see was the beer yobs sitting on the back rests of the seats seeing how much spit they could hit onto the seats so even the tired and weary folks cant sit down so visitors to Alloa dont come if you have a weak bladder or tired legs for you are not made welcome thanks to local council but whats the betting THEY dont live in centre of town they can always hire a taxi and put it down to as expenses

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Hazelkaye
Unregistered User
May 10, 19:47
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Electoral issues - the usual load of sh*t and p*ss!

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cl
Unregistered User
May 12, 19:56
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maybe if the coucil decided to stop investing all our hard earned cash into silly statues and other meaningless nonsense, then they might have money to keep things like the public toilets open. they could maybe even invest some money into amenities for teenagers...then again, it's all brainless numptees who aren't in the real world that make all those decisions...isn't it???

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Jimmy E
Unregistered User
Jun 3, 02:41
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Craig Hutchinson your a funny guy! "I would have expected my MP to tackle such an important issue rather than hiding from it."

The other candidates were all too busy talking about the real important isues to the people in the area. Unfortunately your SNP candidate chose to base her entire election campaign on being a "champion of public loos" - More Nats More loos!

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