SAM ROWLANDS, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales, is urging his constituents to have their say on the future of three public toilets in Flintshire.
Mr Rowlands, who has previously expressed his concern at the possible closure of the toilets in Holywell, Mold and Talacre was commenting after Flintshire County Council launched a public consultation on the future of the three sites.
He said: “I was extremely concerned in September when I heard that Flintshire County Council were planning to close public toilets at three popular sites; the Bus Station in Mold, just off the High Street in Holywell and Station Road in Talacre.
“Residents in these towns were quite rightly up in arms about the possibility of losing their toilets and it is only right and proper that the public’s views should be considered on this issue.
“All three places are popular destinations not just for local people but tourists as well.
“We really can’t expect people to come and visit our towns if we don’t provide this basic amenity.
“I would urge anyone who has a view on the future of these toilets and wants them to be kept open to take part in the consultation which is running until Tuesday 2nd December.”
In February 2025 Flintshire County Council set its budget for 2025/26 and difficult choices needed to be considered including reducing the budget for running public toilets.
While there is no legal requirement for county councils in Wales to provide public toilets, under the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017, they do have to produce a Local Toilet Strategy setting out how people can access toilets in the community.
Flintshire County Council can no longer afford to keep these public toilets running and is open to working with volunteer or community groups, town or community councils, businesses, organisations, or any combination of each, to come up with ideas/actions to maintain access to community toilet facilities in these areas.
The consultation was launched on Wednesday November 5 and will run until Tuesday December 2 and is open to everyone to have their say.
More information about the consultation can be found on the Council’s website.
