Bid to put East Cambridgeshire’s award-winning toilets back on the map is dashed

A bid by the Liberal Democrats to enter East Cambridgeshire’s public toilets into the Loo of the Year Awards – at a cost of £1,500 - was voted down by their council counterparts.

The Lib Dems said East Cambridgeshire’s toilets were once award winners and that standards had slipped since the decision was taken to stop entering them for the annual awards.

Lib Dem leader, Councillor Gareth Wilson told a meeting of the corporate governance and finance committee last week that the council had won a number of awards in the past and that they gave “an incentive to people working for the council in this important but under-recognised area”.

He added that since the council had stopped entering the competition, “the

quality of the public conveniences in the district had declined” and that a review was ongoing into their future.

Liberal Democrat colleague, Councillor Neil Morrison also spoke in favour of the awards cash, saying that it was a “very small sum” for the council to approve.

But the Lib Dems failed to attract the support of their independent and Conservative counterparts.

When the council entered the awards in 2011, seven of its toilets were awarded five stars by award judges.

Conservative leader, Councillor James Palmer said he could not support the spending and said the matter would be better considered as part of the recently-launched review into public toilets.

The review, launched in January, will see a crack team of officers and councillors assess whether the district’s portfolio of nine public toilets, which cost more than £200,000 to run, are delivering value for money, are fit for purpose, and are running as efficiently as possible.

A report will then be produced outlining whether the toilets need updating, closing or could help generate additional revenue for the public purse.