Eastbourne: Businesses object to proposed closure of toilets

Eastbourne Borough Council is currently consulting on a community toilet scheme, which would involve businesses being asked to allow public access to their facilities.

The council needs to make £2.7 million in savings to balance its books for the year ahead, having already made £3 million in cuts. It says that the maintenance of public toilets costs over £300,000 annually.

The Friends of Eastbourne Seafront group is campaigning against the proposal and the possible closure of public toilets, chairing a meeting with businesses in the area on the issue.

Business owners raised concerns about the lack of public facilities damaging Eastbourne’s reputation as a tourist destination, while others said not enough details have been shared about the scheme.

READ MORE: Cries of 'shame on you' over proposals to shut seafront public toilets

One business reported that since the closure of a nearby public toilet, it had experienced a 60 per cent drop in customers.

A petition against the scheme has amassed 5,000 signatures.

Eastbourne Borough councillor Jane Lamb said: “I hope that Eastbourne's Liberal Democrat administration is listening to the significant outcry from residents and local businesses against their proposals to close our toilets.

Toilets on Eastbourne seafront could be closed (Image: N Chadwick/Geograph) “To hear that one business has seen a 60 per cent fall in customers after the council refused to reopen their nearby block is shocking.

“Our public toilets need to remain open until the council has fully informed businesses about how their alternative proposals will work, allowing time for these plans to be scrutinised and only then consider a gradual roll-out, rather than this blanket closure that will harm our town’s wellbeing and tourism industry."

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At a council cabinet meeting on September 18, concern was raised over the implications of the possible closure of public facilities, with one audience member heckling the council and calling the proposal “shameful”.

Councillor Stephen Holt, leader of Eastbourne Borough Council, said in the meeting that if toilets were vandalised during the consultation period for the scheme, they could be closed.

The consultation is due to run until October 31, with the final decision set to be made on November 13 in a cabinet meeting.