Are the toilets letting down visits to the English Riviera?
There's calls for more investment in Torbay's public toilets, following a rise in complaints from holidaymakers and businesses as more people head to the area for a holiday.
Last updated 16th Jun 2021
The council's conservative group leader Dave Thomas says he's had numerous complaints about long queues and people not being able to wait - forcing them to use bushes or the back of beach huts - and claims it could put visitors off from returning to the English Riviera.
He's now questioned the council after it put out a briefing note following the bank holiday claiming some people had 'stolen the toilet rolls’ but overall the facilities had 'coped' with the increased visitor numbers.
Cllr Thomas told us the area has a 'golden opportunity' to impress a new generation of tourists, who are not going abroad this year, and worries the toilets are letting the experience down.
He said: "If you visited Preston Sands across the half term holiday and had to use the toilet facilities, you were in for a very long wait, a queue of up to 15 people deep was not uncommon and you can only begin to imagine the state of the toilet when you finally got there. Many people left the door open for the next person in the queue, hence the Council did not get their 30p per visit and based on the figures, nobody came out to clean them as they believed they were not being used!"
Sara Dellagrotta runs Sara's ice cream kiosk on Preston Sands which used to have 22 toilets but now has four - after the council invested in new paid-for facilities.
The Torbay business owner occasionally lets those without cash use her own personal card so they can go to the loo.
In response Torbay Council says it’s investing an extra £33,000 on top of the almost 2-million already pledged for the area’s toilets.
Cllr Chris Lewis confirmed the contents of one email, in which a local resident had written to advise that people were 'fed up with the queue and had been relieving themselves behind beach huts or anywhere that was semi-private'. Another resident confirmed that some beach huts were even being used as a portable toilet with the contents left in a jar, bottle or anything else that was to hand.
Cllr Thomas has requested the old facilities at Preston North be re-opened as an 'emergency temporary measure' to make sure the beach users can have half a reasonable experience throughout the rest of the summer.
He said: "I understand that we had many more visitors last weekend, but if we have an ambition to be the premier tourist resort in the country, that surely means we want more people to be here. Great, but we also want them to go away having a great memory of the place and looking forward to coming back soon. We can’t afford for their lasting memory to be of someone using the bushes as a toilet – That’s never going to encourage anyone to come back.
Cllr Dave Thomas says 'changes are needed'
"This is a situation that was not hard to predict, we have been warning about this for the last 18 months, it is urgent that the council put in an immediate temporary measure, so we don’t lose this opportunity that has presented itself with so many people staycating."
Torbay MP Kevin Foster said: "The bay relies on visitors and much valued tourists, particularly at this time of the year. I have been very disappointed to receive feedback from some this week about the lack of council public toilet provision, particularly for families and children.
In response Torbay Council said it is investing an extra £33,000 – on top of nearly £2m already that is already being spent on providing modern public toilets across the Bay – on further improvements this summer season.
A spokesperson added: "The aim will be to increase capacity and make the toilets cleaner, more accessible and safer - but the public are also being asked to respect the staff during this period of high demand.
"Healthmatic, who manage the toilets on the Council’s behalf, will be employing an extra two cleaning staff and toilets will also be open later until 10pm over the summer months, so that more people are able to use them.
"There will also be a more regular cleaning regime, and increased surveillance and CCTV to tackle anti-social behaviour. The council has already spent millions on improving toilets despite them not receiving government funding for this (it’s not a statutory service), and is also continuing to investigate other ways to increase public toilet provision and capacity across the Bay as it faces its busiest summer in years.
"There will be additional cleaning staff based at Broadsands and Preston beach toilets - which have been particularly busy in recent weeks with the warm weather - with mobile cleaning teams in Torquay, Paignton and Brixham. Every day on average, Healthmatic vans are driven 64 miles, while 150 jumbo toilet rolls are ordered for use at our public toilets every week. In addition around 20 litres of lemon impact gel are used every week."
Steve Darling, Leader of Torbay Council, said: “With 2021 looking set to be our busiest summer for some time, we have listened to both our local residents and visitors to the Bay, and are putting extra resources into our public toilets to make them cleaner, safer and open for longer, as well as continuing to find ways to increase our capacity.
“We’ve already invested £2m in making our award winning toilets more modern and nicer than in many areas and Healthmatic are working very hard to maintain them – we also need everyone using the toilets to treat them with respect as well.”
He pointed out: "The council has been investing in the Bay’s public toilets over the last two years with a number of new and improved facilties, and in 2019, six of the Bay’s toilets won ‘Loo of the Year’ awards."
Darren Cowell, Deputy Leader of the Council added: “We estimate around 25,000 people will have used Torbay’s public toilets over the weekend alone. Investment in our toilets is just one of a number of ways that we’re gearing up for the summer.
"We are also recruiting new Clean, Green and Safe Ambassadors to respond rapidly to issues related to increased footfall, joining with local community groups to organise litter picks and beach cleans, and we are also working to address unauthorised access to our green spaces."
'Flushed with pride', a video by Healthmatic about Torbay’s award winning loos
Martin Fearon from Healthmatic said: “We welcome this additional investment and are extremely proud that the combination of capital investment by the Council and the dedication shown by our staff has resulted in a significantly better experience for Torbay residents and visitors alike.
“We ask users of the public toilet facilities to be understanding towards the cleaning teams as they perform their cleaning duties throughout each day, especially during times of peak demand.”