A funding bid to replace the public toilets next to Rye station has been rejected.
Proposals to knock down the toilets and install new facilities had been given the go ahead by Rye Town Council in June subject to funding. The council agreed to put in a bid for £200,000 from the Rother Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy.
“The panel making the decision were supportive of our plans,” said Rebekah Gilbert who has been leading Station Approach toilets project for the council. “They said it was a good proposal but told us we need both the lease for the building and a charity to run it.”
She told Rye Town Council on Monday 20 July that she had been encouraged to bid again in October if the issues with the lease and charity had “progressed further.”
The toilets are owned by Network Rail and leased to Rother District Council.
“It’s been a constant battle to get them sorted,” said Rye Mayor Chris Hoggart. “This council would love to take them on but we just don’t have the cash. We would definitely do a better job if we had the funding.”
Under the proposals, the toilets would be knocked down and replaced with a new modular building, one built off-site ready for installation.
Image Credits: James Stewart .
Why demolish a well-built, relatively new, functional and purpose-built structure? Whatever faults it may have surely can be overcome by cheaper renovations or adaptions rather than outright and costly demolition and replacement . We all need to be thinking more about salvage and repair rather than demolition and replacement if we want to reduce the environmental stresses all of us need to assist in achieving.The infrastructure levy needs to be wisely spent and not in my view squandered on unnecessary projects like replacing this building entirely when it can be adapted and repaired .
We pay a local levy on Council tax so why is this money not available for this ? I guess it gets added to general pot and spent on other things but I would be interested to know exactly what
Well done to all those involved in trying to get these appalling toilets replaced for visitors and local people here in Rye! Hopefully future bids will be successful!
Well surprise, surprise, it was a bad idea from the start. There is absolutely no need to knock down the existing building at all, it is perfectly sound but may need some work to the roof. Eighteen months ago I put together I put together a good proposal that would costs probably no more than £25,000- £35,000 which was rejected. At that point Network Rail would agree to dispose of the freehold of the site and RDC would have been happy to relinquish the lease they have. At the same time I had quotes from companies to in stall a pay entry system and at as cost of £0.50 per entry, it would pay for itself and probably show a profit for the town. Estimates to refurbish the building, install new sanitary equipment was easily achievable within the budget, but of course no one was interested as they had not thought of it first.
There has never been the neds for a knock down and in excess of £200,000 ro be spent, that’s just a vanity project that looks good (although the modules suggested would have been totally out of character for Rye), what is needed is a sensible quick solution that can be achieved quickly, cheaply and without too much disturbance. A committee is not required for this, just someone who knows what they are doing, a budged & funding and the ability to cut through all the red tape and GET THE JOB DONE.
If anyone is interested in joing in with me on this project, please reply to my email address and lest see if we can get toilets in Rye to be proud of.
I totally agree with you on this, I am not a builder nor do I have any skills in this area but it seems common sense to me it shouldn’t be that complicated or require hundreds of thousands of pounds,
The building itself surely can be refurbished/repaired, we need some local trades people to volunteer a little of their spare time who have the skills, to help, if a few gave a little time each for their town it could work and maybe a fund could be set up so that locals can contribute financially towards this and the costs, I’m sure most people that live here want to help our town as well as shopkeepers that trade in this town, after all it’s in their interests more than those that live here surely, as the people that visit this town spend money in their shops & restaurants.
Oh .. of course there should be a 50p charge for using the facilities to pay for the running costs, common sense surely.
I cannot help but agree that demolition is rather a drastic solution. Also, think modular buildings and a limited life comes to mind.
The building is sound. It is brick built with a tiled roof. The roof tiles are likely to have a 100 year life expectancy. It has sound foundations and established connections to drainage and services. It already has security gates etc. Common sense says it needs simple maintenance outside and a modern refurbishment inside.
I suggest that anyone passing Pevensey Castle takes the opportunity to inspect the public toilets at the car park there. That was an established brick built male/female toilet block. It has been refurbished as three or four unisex modern cubicles with hidden services and low maintenance easy clean wall and floor finishes.
The fact that it is cubicles means there is not an out-of-sight area for youths to congregate in.
Well done to whoever was responsible. I think it was Wealden DC.
Post script to my previous comment: stretching back to the 1960’s a family pitstop travelling west by car was Midhurst, where there was a car park and toilets. When we stopped there last year I noticed that the toilets were different. They have 4 cubicles accessible directly from the pavement. There are no internal communal areas. It was simple modern approach.
This could be done easily in Rye. The existing block already has 4 doors on the north side. All of the plumbing could be in a service room behind cubicles.
It’s the school kids that create the most vandalism to the toilets and create havoc on the trains. Get the schools involved. Why does Rye have to suffer the behaviour of these kids from other areas? Or start locking them during the peak school rush period.
Yes you make them 50p per go the kids won’t get access
I don’t agree with Blanket Punishment and as an older resident, I don’t see why there should be a charge for using a public service. Many of us have various disabilities and health conditions, which can make using public facilities difficult enough, without having to fumble around for change. As mentioned by Andrew MacLaren, the vandals need to be held responsible for their actions.
Who carries cash these days?
I now live in the Azores and our Island of about 15,000 inhabitants has over 40 FREE bathing areas, most with toilet blocks AND showers and they are, without exception, spotless. I pay under 300 Euros council tax. Oh, and the rubbish collection runs like clockwork, the roads are good and the kids don’t vandalise stuff.
What is it about British management that makes them so hopelssly incapable of maintaining a public toilet from the massively extortionate local taxes they collect ? Just who gets all this money and what for?