Council looks to sell off rundown public toilets

The disused Meols Parade public toilets will be auctioned off by Wirral Council

A council will put up a derelict set of public toilets for auction as part of a raft of property sales.

Wirral Council has already earned £7.5m by selling off its property in the past year - including a former school and industrial estate.

The authority has voted to put the toilets on Meols Parade, in Meols, up for auction which the council hopes will avoid demolition costs.

A report before councillors on the policy and resources committee said the loos had been "closed for some time and are deteriorating quickly in condition."

Several of the property sales in the past year were intended to help pay back a government bailout from 2022, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reports.

Money from asset sales can be used by councils either to fund capital projects or to pay off debts.

A table of all the sales show several big property hand-overs such as the sale of Egerton House to the Wirral Chamber of Commerce for £1.9m and £2.6m for the former Foxfield School in Moreton which is being turned into homes.

Demolition

The Kelvinside Industrial Estate in Seacombe sold for £740,000, nearly twice its original value.

Several properties netted more than expected such as the former Seacombe Library and a kiosk on Dee Lane in West Kirby.

One property, 4 Albion Street in New Brighton, was sold for nine times its original price at £182,000.

The committee also approved a number of new sales including the closed Heswall Day Centre as well as the toilets in Meols.

The Heswall building costs Wirral Council around £41,300 a year to keep hold of, and it is hoped the site can now be developed into a housing development to support those with additional needs.

If unsuccessful, the site would be put on the open market.

The Hamilton Building in Birkenhead and the Conway Centre nearby will be sold on the basis they will be turned into new homes.

If the toilets are not sold, the council would need to demolish them, the committee heard.