Council looks at charge for seaside toilets to deter drug taking after 'heartbreaking' account
Charges could be levied on town centre toilets in Redcar following complaints about drug taking.
Council leader Alec Brown said he was seeking solutions after sharing a “heartbreaking” account given to him by the grandparent of a four-year-old who he said was subjected to someone injecting drugs and foul language after taking the child to use the facility in Moore Street. Posting on Facebook, Cllr Brown said closing the toilets because of continued anti-social behaviour would be a “last resort” and not something currently planned, but a charge of 30p to enter to “clean up” the toilets was another option.
He said the council could not afford the “constant cleaning of blood and needles” and while a security guard was employed to supervise the toilets during the peak summer season, there was no budget to do this all year round.
READ MORE: Council initially forecasting £12m plus overspend on budget set for 2024/25 financial year
Cllr Brown drew parallels with action recently taken by the local authority in respect of seafront shelters in the town, which had attracted rough sleepers with drug issues and also drew complaints. The council spent £4,000 to fit seating in the shelters on the Esplanade with armrest partitions - thus preventing anyone from lying horizontally on them - while at the same time some individuals took up offers of accommodation.
Cllr Brown said: “I cannot make drug use disappear from our town, it is a much broader issue than we have powers for. [But] these toilets are currently costing the local taxpayers thousands of pounds every year, money that could be spent elsewhere.”
Cllr Brown said that while public toilets operated by the council in the borough were free, evidence from other areas showed charges made toilets cleaner and safer. He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the majority of replies he received from the public to his Facebook post were in favour of introducing a charge on the facility.
He said: “No decision has been made on it, but we absolutely need to do something. A large proportion of the community in Redcar are sick of open air drug use - we are also a tourist town and rely on high visitor footfall especially during spring and summer months for the local economy.
“It is looking at ways we can mitigate the problem. I don’t want to criminalise people, but there are ways the council can reach out and help them to recover, while not tolerating unsafe spaces on the high street or seafront.”
Cllr Brown added: “We have been getting contacts from the public regarding drug use in these toilets and we can’t let it continue the way it is. We don’t want to close the toilets down, but it is costing us an arm and a leg as a council to clean up the bio waste left behind daily.
“Our main concern is the safety of residents and visitors and we cannot have a scenario where children are having to share toilets with people using drugs; it can't continue.”
Posting in response, Coatham ward councillor Carl Quartermain said: "[Access] needs to be controlled. [These] measures will also support maintenance [of the toilets]." No timescale has been put on a decision over the toilets.
A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police said: “We are aware of ongoing issues at these toilets and continue to work with the local authority to tackle anti-social behaviour. Any reports of crime at this location will be investigated. Incidents can be reported using the 101 number or online via the Cleveland Police website.”
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