THE public toilets at one West Cork beach were so bad that a councillor’s children refused to use them, while another councillor who lives near a beach has had people using her garden as a toilet, a meeting heard this week.
At a meeting of the local authority, Cllr Ann Bambury (SD) outlined her family’s experience during a discussion about the lack of public toilet facilities at outdoor amenity areas and beaches across the county.
Cllr Bambury said that with the recent good weather she and her family were fortunate enough to visit a beach twice last weekend.
‘My children used the public toilet on our first visit but on the second day, they refused to use it as it was so bad and we had to drive to nearest village to use a toilet there,’ said Cllr Bambury.
‘This can have a negative impact on the health and well-being of a child and they shouldn’t have to hold if they have an urge to go to the toilet and this can cause other issues.’
She added that a ‘clean, well-maintained public toilet system’ not only improves hygiene but it also encourages use and reduce health risks for children.
Cllr Bambury said after the meeting that the Council need to set up a real-time system for the public to report issues such as broken facilities or unclean conditions.
Cllr Audrey Buckley (FF) who raised the motion, said that many public toilets at beaches are outdated and not fit for purpose. She said the lack of proper public toilets is affecting a lot of people and that people have even used her garden as toilet as she lives near a beach near Crosshaven.
‘Access to clean toilets is not a luxury but a basic necessity. It’s crucial that the government realise this and a dedicated fund should be established for public toilets,’ said Cllr Buckley.She said she makes this request each February to the local authority and said ‘enough is enough.’
Cllr Patrick O’Donovan (FF) seconded her motion and said they have a lot of beaches in their area of the Carrigaline Municipal District and they have ‘put up a massive fight’ each year for public toilets on beaches.
‘We are pulling the money out our municipal district budget and it’s not good enough,’ he said.
Cllr Marie O’Sullivan (FG) said for some businesses near beaches it can often be difficult for them to maintain their toilets with people running in to use them without buying anything.
‘Within our own municipal districts we don’t have the money, and it has to be a national consideration taking in the vastness of our coastline. They really need to start providing facilities in-situ,’ said Cllr O’Sullivan.
Cllr Isobel Towse (SD) asked if they could better spend the money that they are spending on public toilets, and highlighted that the superloos cost €40,000 annually to maintain.
Cllr Buckley, meanwhile, revealed that the superloo in Crosshaven is constantly out of order, and the electric door opened recently when a woman was using it, forcing her husband to stand in front of it.
