Councillors have approved the demolition of a seaside public toilet in Filey’s conservation area despite a ‘lack of information’ on plans for a replacement.
The public conveniences on Royal Parade, Filey, will be demolished after the Thirsk and Malton Area Planning Committee pushed through the plans, which were criticised for a lack of detail about future intentions for the site.
Despite seeking assurances from North Yorkshire Council officers, councillors were not able to establish timelines for the closure of the toilets or for the construction of a replacement facility in the seaside town.
Coun Lindsay Burr said:
“Filey is a very, very popular destination and the point is that we’re being asked to demolish them, but we haven’t got a plan moving forward.
“We’re told they aren’t in a state of collapse at this time, so surely visitors would be far better served by toilets that remain in use. And I can vouch for that, they are usable.
“They might not be fantastic, but when you gotta go, you gotta go.”
Speaking at the meeting, a North Yorkshire Council officer said there were plans for a replacement and that a design would be commissioned following the demolition of the current structure.
He added that the replacement toilets “may not need planning permission thanks to permitted development rights”.
Coun Michelle Donohue-Moncrieff told colleagues:
“Sometimes toilets do tend to turn into sagas.
“I don’t think the council has helped itself by putting in a planning application without explaining properly to the public that it intends to build a replacement.”
“So, what the public has seen is that the council is taking away a toilet block, and it’s been an epic communications failure by North Yorkshire Council, which should really just come out and say if it’s replacing the toilet block or not.”
However, the member for Hunmanby and Sherburn gave her backing to the demolition to avoid delays in the replacement’s construction.
Other councillors, who had also expressed opposition to the demolition, decided to support the scheme “under duress”, but criticised NYC’s handling of the scheme and the lack of information provided to members and the public.
The application was approved at the meeting with four votes in favour and two abstentions, on Thursday, August 21.
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