Ely Standard springs into action to ensure toilets will remain open for Ely’s big fireworks night - what a relief!
All four city centre public toilets will stay open until 8.30pm on the night of the Ely XT Firework Spectacular. - Credit: Archant
A campaign by the Ely Standard has ensured its readers won’t get caught short at this year’s XT Firework spectacular.
Firework fans can now rest easy knowing that all four of the city’s public toilets will be open until 8.30pm on Saturday November 12.
It follows a flurry of emails and calls between a concerned resident, Ely City Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council and this newspaper.
The saga began with an email from resident Jackie Sibson last Wednesday (26).
She raised her concerns after discovering that all four toilets - located at Palace Green, the Cloisters, Barton Road and Ship Lane - were closed at 6.30pm last year – a slight issue considering the fireworks display did not begin until 6.45pm.
She said: “It is such a wonderful display and such good value for money but last year we were unable to find any public toilets that were open near the display.
“This is such a shame when the display attracts so many people to Ely and must raise a fair amount of money for local charities.”
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Ely Standard editor John Elworthy then sprang into action, contacting the district council who in turn said they hadn’t received a request from the city council to extend the toilets’ opening hours for this year’s event.
A call was then put into the city council, who then contacted ECDC tourism team leader Tracey Harding to request to keep the toilets open for a further two hours.
The extension was confirmed on Wednesday morning (November 2) by chairman of the commercial services committee, Councillor Richard Hobbs.
He said: “Following a request from the organisers, I can confirm that all four public toilets in Ely will be open until 8:30pm for the Ely XT Firework Spectacular.”
What a relief!
