Loo demolition approved following council 'saga'

The block on North Parade in Filey was "usable", a councillor said, despite plans to demolish it

Councillors have approved a plan to demolish a set of seafront public toilets despite a "lack of information" on plans for them to be replaced.

A report to a North Yorkshire Council meeting on 21 August said "substantial and costly remediation" would be needed to ensure the long-term stability of the building on Royal Parade, Filey.

A North Yorkshire Council officer said in a meeting that a design for replacement toilets would be commissioned following the demolition of the current structure.

Independent councillor for Malton, 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."

The block were closed for repairs from 17 October to 21 March, when they re-opened "for the short-term, pending demolition and subsequent replacement", the report said.

"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," Burr added.

"They might not be fantastic, but when you gotta go, you gotta go."

The application was approved at the meeting of the Thirsk and Malton area planning committee, with four votes in favour and two abstentions.

Independent councillor Michelle Donohue-Moncrieff, who represents Hunmanby and Sherburn, said she supported the proposal to avoid delays in the construction of a replacement block, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

She 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."

She added: "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."

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