Outrage as public toilet on Goring seafront shut for almost a year

Michèle Spicer, who lives in Goring and has a beach hut in Sea Place, said "no-one wants to take responsibility" for the public toilet there, which has been out of use since last summer, when it was opened for one week.

Although the toilet is on council-owned land, residents at the Waterfront development, managed by Chamonix Estates in nearby Eirene Road, pay a service charge for the property management company to maintain the public toilet.

Michèle is calling for responsibility of the toilet's upkeep to be returned to Worthing Borough Council and said it is "a health and safety issue which needs to be addressed".

The public toilet has been shut for the past year

She said: "There used to be more public toilets here before the private development was built.

"These toilets should have been replaced like for like, but there is only one single toilet there and the door keeps breaking.

"It has a 'temporarily closed' sign on it but it's been shut for the past eight months – there's no excuses.

"Residents want the council to take it over as Chamonix clearly can't be bothered.

"They are meant to be there for the public."

Michèle said she has been contacting the council and Chamonix Estates campaigning for the issue to be resolved ever since she bought a beach hut on the seafront last April.

Although the toilet was reopened for a week last summer, is was closed again in July.

Michèle Spicer has been campaigning for the toilet to be fixed since she bought her beach hut last year

She said the nearest public conveniences are a quarter of a mile away in one direction, at Marine Gardens, and half a mile the other way.

Michèle said: "It's not much fun when you've got little toddlers who need the loo.

"Older people and children especially need to be able to use facilities here.

"Waterfront residents can nip back to their luxury apartments to use their own toilet, but there's a 90-year-old beach hut owner next to me who can't go down there as there's no loo.

"It's outrageous.

"The council has also sold off five or six spaces in the public car park to private residents, but we have a right to that car park."

Chamonix Estates is part of the wider FirstPort Group, and the property management company is required to fund and maintain the beach toilet as part of the development site deeds.

A spokesman said: "We are sorry to hear about this complaint.

"Since its reopening after the Covid-19 restrictions, the toilet has been subject to frequent vandalism and is now closed.

"We're keen to seek a resolution and have been talking to the local council for help in installing a 'pay-per-use' door as a short term solution to prevent any further vandalism."

Worthing Borough Council did not respond to a request for a comment on the public car park spaces at the beach.

A spokesman said: "The toilet is not owned by the council and local apartment owners pay for the maintenance of it through their service charge."