Councillors give go ahead to £105,000 public toilets refurb

A toilet block in Halstead is to reopen – costing the town council £105,233.

The toilets in Chapel Street were closed in 2005 to save money, but will be revitalised after requests from residents for the facilities to reopen.

At a recent town council meeting, members voted that the work should go ahead. It will be carried out by Colchester firm Horizon Construction and is expected to take four months to complete.

The money will help fund a complete refurbishment of the building, with the provision of a separate disabled facility and a new baby changing area.

There will also be considerable repairs to strengthen the bank in front of the building, which town council clerk Mike Murkin said was disintegrating.

Mr Murkin said the decision had been taken to pay for the repairs due to a lack of facilities in the town centre.

“The only other public toilets are three unisex cubicles in Kings Road,” he said.

Repairs costing hundreds of pounds were required at the Kings Road toilets last year when one of the cubicles was badly damaged after a sanitary bin was set ablaze.

The repairs were covered by insurance.

It is hoped there will be further facilities available when the town’s new community centre opens.