Public toilets in a newly refurbished Isle of Wight train station will open as soon as the project is completed, after Ryde Town Council (RTC) agreed to take on maintenance and cleaning.
Councillor Phil Jordan tells News OnTheWight that after South Western Railway (SWR) and the Isle of Wight Council (IWC) refused to maintain the toilets at Ryde Esplanade train station, “RTC have committed to taking the maintenance and cleaning on”, but haven’t yet signed the lease.
He added that the toilets are ready, but the work around them – cafe, etc – is still ongoing, and he suspected an opening date in early 2024.
Isle of Wight council is meeting with SWR this week to discuss a number of issues surrounding the new station and public toilets.
Toilets demolished
Public toilets in Western Gardens were knocked down to make way for a new road to Ryde Pier as part of the Ryde Interchange Project.
The toilets were owned by the IWC, but leased to RTC, which took on the maintenance and cleaning.
There were reassurances the public toilets would be replaced — by refurbishing toilets inside Ryde Esplanade train station.
Disagreement over who will be responsible
It now emerges that there is confusion over who will be responsible for the toilets.
RTC has claimed SWR told the council it feels it is “fulfilling its obligation” to the public by only opening one disabled toilet for those with a radar key.
Jordan: RTC pushed into a corner
The train company has “pushed [RTC] into a corner”, Ryde councillor, Phil Jordan, said at a meeting last month — if the town council did not maintain the toilets, SWR would not open them.
SWR declined to comment but said it was the IWC who agreed to fund and deliver bringing the redundant toilets back into use, as part of the wider interchange project, and it was not the intention of SWR to install them otherwise.
IWC: Never intended to manage the toilets
The IWC has now also said it never intended to manage the toilets, but it intended to ensure public toilets facilities in the area were not lost.
A spokesperson for the IWC said RTC was included in discussions at every stage and while it,
“Did not have a definitive answer to the operation/management [of the toilets] from the outset, the fallback position was always no different than previously agreed for Western Gardens.”
RTC committed to taking on maintenance and cleaning
The town council, however, said it was told SWR would be maintaining the facilities, but was approached during the summer to take on the cleaning.
It ‘reluctantly’ agreed to do so, it said, and at no charge to the train company, but was later given a lease to fully maintain the toilets and part of the station, which it has now committed to take on.
Councillor Jordan told News OnTheWight that it’s hoped the new toilets will open in early January 2024.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
