Toilet scheme fails to impress Worthing councillor
RICHMOND upon Thames may be famed for its waterside attraction, but it doesn't impress Worthing borough councillor Maj Tom Wye when it comes to spending a penny!
Maj Wye and his wife Lesley made an unofficial visit to Richmond last week to see how the Surrey borough was implementing the Community Toilet Scheme, which has enabled councillors to close all public toilets.
But Major and Mrs Wye came home with a dire briefing for Worthing and Adur councils' joint overview and scrutiny committee, which had been asked to consider introducing the scheme into the two districts.
See the Herald's original story about the threat of public toilet closures.
After the committee felt it did not have enough information to make a decision, Maj Wye and his wife decided to do the groundwork themselves – at no expense to council tax payers.
Private premises
The scheme involves paying private premises, such as stores and pubs, to allow the public to use their toilet facilities in place of local authority conveniences which are expensive to repair and maintain.
Maj Wye said Worthing council officers had tried to liaise with Richmond Council to organise the visit.
But, in the words of one officer, "Richmond were less than helpful". Maj Wye decided to go ahead with the visit as he would be able to see the system through the eyes of a visitor/tourist.
"I arrived at Richmond at 11am and parked near Richmond Green.
"After driving for 90 minutes, I did actually require to use a toilet.
"There were no signs to indicate any facilities but a 'friendly' traffic warden informed me the nearest toilet was in Richmond railway station."
Frustrated tour
Maj Wye said the walk took approximately 10 minutes and was not signed en-route. And the toilet was not part of the scheme, but had a 20p charge!
The couple spent a largely frustrating tour of the town centre before visiting the Tourist Information Centre.
A map was supplied, but the lack of detail (and scale) made it very difficult to identify the sites involved with the scheme.
A town centre shop told Mrs Wye that facilities were only available at the railway station, House of Fraser and in the Tourist Information Centre.
Maj Wye's conclusions after the two-hour visit were:
Information on the location of toilet facilities in the town centre of Richmond was totally inadequate for visitors.
Residents of Richmond, including a traffic warden, did not know the location of businesses involved with the scheme.
Signs on premises involved in the scheme were totally inadequate and poorly positioned.
Not a single sign pointing to the general location of toilet facilities was found.
And Maj Wye's recommendations include that the Richmond scheme should not be considered for implementing in Worthing.
If a scheme was devised for Worthing, serious consideration should be given to the size, position and location of all signs.
A Facebook page, Worthing Borough Council – Your chance to be the chancellor, has been set up to encourage Worthing residents to share their views about cuts and generating more revenue.
-------------------------------------
Click here to go back to Worthing news.
Where are you? Add your pin to the Herald's international readers' map by clicking here.
Email the Herald: letters@worthingherald.co.uk
Click here for the Herald staff directory.
Want to read this page in French, German, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Urdu or 48 other languages? click here for Google translate.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Worthing
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 12 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South west
