PLANS to bring back public toilets in Trowbridge Town Park have been discussed by local councillors.

They held preliminary and informal talks on Tuesday, April 26 about reinstating public toilets in the park at a likely cost of more than £200,000.

At Trowbridge Town Council's full council meeting in May last year, councillors voted 14-3, with one abstention, to remove the public toilets.

The move has been welcomed by South West Wiltshire MP Dr Andrew Murrison and local councillors Edward Kirk and Antonio Piazza who have campaigned for the toilets to be reinstated.

Dr Murrison said: "Access matters and toilets are especially important to the elderly and those with illnesses and disability.

"I would take a dim view of a local authority purporting to serve the whole community that set this aside.

"I would also add that toilets are indicative of a town that welcomes visitors, important if Trowbridge is to attract shoppers and tourists."

Cllr Kirk said: "It is fabulous news that the town council is now considering a public toilet provision again.

"Of course, I would have preferred for the old toilets to have just been reinstated, so we don’t now have to spend approximately £200,000 on new facilities.

"However, despite my efforts to retain our only public toilets, many councillors disagreed and felt the toilets were in an unsuitable location in front of the St George’s Works development and next to our proposed half a million pound park storage unit.

"Toilets are a basic hygiene requirement and they should have never been taken away from the people of Trowbridge."

Cllr Piazza said: "I’m extremely delighted with this news as it will give the people of Trowbridge hope for the future.

"Now the hard work really begins in finding location for them which is safe and also ensuring that the taxpayer doesn’t pick up the bill for the toilets, which shouldn’t have been removed in the first place.

"Public toilets are a basic sanitary right for all residents in Trowbridge, choosing not to have them impacts the overall hygiene and health of the community.

"The coronavirus pandemic is a reminder of how important our health is and local government should prioritise the health of all residents in the community before anything else. It was a grave mistake to demolish them."