Council says no to cemetery toilets

Public toilets are unlikely to reopen at a city cemetery due to a lack of demand, the council has said.

St John’s Cemetery in Worcester has not had public toilets for more than a decade due to constant vandalism and anti-social behaviour including drugtaking, but calls were made to re-open the facilities last year.

Officers at Worcester City Council have now said those calls should be ignored as it would be too expensive to build and maintain.

Building new toilets would cost the council as much as £64,000 and £14,000 a year to clean and keep secure.

Officers have recommended to the city council’s environment committee that it scraps any plans to re-open toilets at St John’s cemetery and instead work with local pubs and businesses – including St Johns Sports Centre – to open their toilets to visitors.

The council added that staff have only been asked about toilets at the 9,000-plot cemetery twice in the last two years and no formal complaints have been made.

A report, due to be discussed by the environment committee at a meeting in the Guildhall next Tuesday, said: “Proceeding with a capital project with a lack of demand evidence and no readily available budget is not considered a prudent use of public resources, particularly given the ongoing budget pressure that the council will face over the coming years.

“There is no identified budget for such spend and this report does not recommend proceeding with such a capital project given the insignificant or unknown demand that exists.”

Council officers looked at three options including renting a portable toilet at a cost of around £16,000 for a year and £14,000 each year thereafter.

Other options included refurbishing the existing toilets at a cost of nearly £44,000 in the first year and £14,000 thereafter.

Building new toilets at the cemetery would cost the council at least £64,000 including more than £14,000 to pay for security and cleaning – a cost that would be repeated every year.

Last June, Worcester pensioner Christine Downe said she was put off visiting her son at St John’s Cemetery due to the lack of toilets.

St John’s councillor Richard Udall called on the council to look into re-opening the toilets.