Conwy’s public toilets could be placed on the open market and even sold as homes. At Conwy ’s finance and resources overview and scrutiny committee at Bodlondeb this week, councillors discussed a report on capital business cases for 2025/26.
Conwy announced in the autumn it would close 19 of its 40 public toilets. As part of money-saving plans, the authority will also reduce other public toilet opening hours and close facilities out of season.
But in the schedule of capital business case costs, £50,000 is reserved for the council to ‘decommission’ or shut down facilities; however, Conwy is also talking to town councils across the county in the hope they can still finance facilities. As part of the discussions at the committee meeting, Glan Conwy councillor Sharon Doleman asked if closed public toilets could be sold as assets to cover the cost of the £50,000. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox.
Cllr Doleman then referred to media reports of people turning former public toilets into homes. In March last year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported how a resident applied to Denbighshire County Council to convert the former public convenience on Dyserth High Street into a home.
Cllr Doleman asked Conwy’s Cllr Goronwy Edwards, the cabinet member responsible for toilets, what would happen to the facilities after they were ‘decommissioned’. “Once the toilets are decommissioned, what is the plan for those buildings or that space going forward?” said Cllr Doleman.
“I know when the public toilets were closed in our village (Glan Conwy) about 20 years ago, a developer bought the space for parking space for some developments he was doing.” She added: “I just wondered if there is an opportunity to recoup some of that (£50,000) cost by selling the space, the building. I have seen in newspapers, not recently but some time ago, people buying public toilets and making them into a home, so I just wondered if there is a plan going forward to try and recoup some money back into the council.”
Cllr Edwards said the toilets could be sold on the open market. “The £50,000 for the decommissioning, I think members need to be aware that is for turning off the electricity, the mains water, and that type of stuff,” he said.
“It is not for demolishing the buildings and things of that nature, but I’m very comforted by the fact that since those processes have started, we’ve had a number of expressions of interests in many of the sites that are currently closed, so I’m looking forward to what the outcome of that will be.
“And yes, once the final decision on those toilets remaining (is made) for them to close, they will be put into a state for disposal in the manner we see fit while they’re on the open market.”
A spokeswoman for Conwy County Council clarified the situation. “We are continuing to work with interested Town and Community Councils to assist them with lease or transfer agreements for public toilets in their areas,” she said.
“Existing sponsorship arrangements are in place until March 2025, and some town and community councils are looking at sponsorship again, to retain the presence of toilets in their wards.
“Once these discussions are finalised, we will know which facilities may need to be decommissioned. There are 20 public toilet facilities that will remain open across the county this winter, and a further four will open Easter to September.”
“The public can also use toilet facilities in 19 council buildings such as offices, leisure centres, and libraries, even if they are not using other services in the building.” She added: “Further toilets are available through the council’s community toilet scheme, where approved businesses allow the public to use their facilities without making a purchase.”
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