Traders are calling for a condemned toilet block to be fixed – as their businesses are “overrun” with people using their loos and blocking the drains.
St George’s public toilets in Central Parade and the pavement outside were fenced off in April by Canterbury City Council (CCC) after it found structural issues were making the building unsafe.
The portable loos provided as a temporary replacement are reportedly not cleaned often enough and have been branded “disgusting”.
But council bosses say there is no date for work to start fixing the structural issues with the block – and no long-term decision has been made on the future of the toilets.
The closure forced people in need of relief into the nearby iFun arcade, but owner Shaney Farr says the overuse of the facilities led to blocked drains.
“The public needed to use the bathrooms and there weren’t any,” explained Ms Farr, 54.
“We’ve only got two public toilets in our building and they were being overrun and the drains got blocked, so we had to have them blasted.”
Harry Blatchford-Horn – owner of Harry’s Cafe, adjacent to the toilet block – says thanks to city councillors Liz Harvey and Dan Watkins, the portable loos were positioned nearby. However, he says they are not being cleaned frequently enough.
“We’ve had people coming in droves just to use our toilets, saying that the portable loos are disgusting,” said Mr Blatchford-Horn.
“These portable loos are nasty, and though I’ve got a big sign on the door that says toilets for customer use only, I can’t say no to people, especially if they’re kids or old people.
“But we’re having to clean our toilets five times a day just to keep them decent.”
Cllr Watkins says the portable loos are “a very ugly sticking plaster solution”, and is calling on the city council – run by a Labour-Lib Dem coalition – to make a plan to repair and reopen the toilet block.
“For our older community, disabled people and other vulnerable groups, it’s terrible if they don’t have a working public toilet,” said the Conservative.
“The whole thing looks like an eyesore – on the side of the pavement where the toilet block is, the council have actually blocked off the whole pavement.
“And on the other side you’ve got the portable loos – it looks like a right mess.”
Ms Farr says the cordoned-off toilet block spoils the view and hurts tourism.
“It’s difficult enough for independent businesses, and this is not helping with the flow of customers,” she remarked.
“It doesn’t give a very good impression of Herne Bay when people drive past and see that month after month and potentially year after year.”
A council spokesperson said: “The most pressing priority at the moment is to get the pavement reopened, and to do that we have to do some work within the toilet block.
“This will require the building to be completely closed off, with the existing facade removed, replaced and decorated and the toilet entrances fully boarded up.
“We hope to get this work done as soon as possible to restore full pedestrian access along that side of the seafront.
“No long-term decision over the future of the toilets themselves has been taken yet.
“There is no current date for any work to take place on the structural issues that forced us to close them and therefore no date for which they may reopen.”
