Broughty Ferry’s new public toilets may be located in the Brook Street car park but they won’t be open until some time after the toilets at the Queen Street car park are closed.
Other public toilets in Broughty Ferry will continue to be available during the period, however, at Castle Green and the Windmill Gardens.
Dundee City Council is closing the loss-making loos at Queen Street on March 31. They are one of the casualties of the council’s £14.9 million package of savings and were chosen because their annual cost of £135,000 so exceeded their income of £3322 that each person’s visit was being subsidised by the council to the tune of £8.12.
The conveniences won the Scottish Loo of the Year award in 2003 and were complimented for their high standards of cleanliness and overall condition. They were also available to disabled people 24 hours a day, all year round, through the RADAR national key scheme.
In recent years their use decreased, with one factor being the high number of cafes, pubs and hotels in Broughty Ferry with customer toilets.
The new loos will be fully automated and will be available 24 hours a day to all users unlike the Queen Steet toilets, which closed to the general public at 5.30pm. They will save the council £111,000 a year and will cost the public the same 20p per visit as the Queen Street toilets.
A spokesman for the council said a location for the automated toilets had not yet been decided. One possible site is the Brook Street car park, although it is still being studied for suitability.
“It will not be possible to have the new toilets open as soon as the existing ones close and there will be a delay,” he added. “We hope to get them open as soon as possible and until they are open there will continue to be other public toilets available in central Broughty Ferry at Castle Green and the Windmill Gardens.”
Jean Baxter (67), of Collydean, Glenrothes, visits Broughty Ferry with her husband Tom (69) one Saturday a month and is disappointed at the closure of the Queen Street toilets.
“Broughty Ferry is a lovely place to visit for a meal and to go shopping, and one of the other reasons is that it’s got very good public toilets because it’s not always possible to go to toilets in the shops and cafes,” she said. “I also wasn’t happy to hear that the new ones won’t be open straight away. At least there will be other ones available.
“Broughty Ferry does need public toilets because many people like to visit the town and you might not be in a place that’s got customer toilets.”