Call for public loos in shopping centre development

Residents are "sick of not having any public toilets" and provision should be secured as part of a former shopping centre's redevelopment, an MP has said.

Scarborough and Whitby MP Alison Hume has backed calls for accessible facilities to be included in the planned revamp of Scarborough's Brunswick Centre.

It came after York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority agreed a £7m funding package for the project.

At a meeting on Friday, executive member Richard Maw also questioned why "essential public facilities" had not yet been confirmed given the "significant public investment".

A recent council report stated that, while businesses within the centre would provide toilets for their customers, the scheme "does not replace the level of publicly accessible provision previously available through the Brunswick Centre".

It is therefore "unlikely to meet wider town centre demand", the report concluded.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Hume said she would "carry on pressing" to include public toilets in proposals.

"People are absolutely sick of not having any public toilets in the town," she said.

"I'm also pushing for a Changing Places toilet so that people with loved ones who've got disabilities can come into the town and enjoy everything about it – that's something that we have really got to deliver."

Scarborough Group International's (SGI) proposed development includes a six-screen cinema, family-focused indoor leisure attraction, food-and-drink outlets, and two major retail units.

The Mayor of York and North Yorkshire David Skaith said the issue of public toilets was a matter for North Yorkshire Council, but he understood the importance of adequate provision of facilities.

He said: "I know how important public toilets are to the town's sense of experience, and we're keen to see that, given the significant public investment from us, the council and the Pride in Place board, we are maximising the benefit to the public, such as through the provision of public toilets."

Earlier this year, businesses in the middle of Scarborough were asked to allow non-customers to use their toilets but none came forward.

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