Bedford Borough Council’s Mayor and his Liberal Democrat and Labour administration have finally bowed to public pressure to re-open the Lurke Street public conveniences in a spectacular u-turn.
In 2012 the Liberal Democrats and Labour closed the toilets at Lurke Street, Silver Street and Riverside Square in Bedford. This led to a campaign by local people and businesses to re-open the facilities due to overwhelming concerns about the negative impact on older people, families and those with medical conditions.
Despite a petition of nearly 2,000 signatures, Liberal Democrat and Labour Councillors voted once again to maintain the closures when Conservative Cllr Roger Rigby brought the issue to the Council’s Environment Committee last year. However, it is now the case that modernised facilities costing £45k will be re-opened in August.
Responding to the news, Cllr Rigby said:
‘The Liberal Democrats and Labour damaged the town centre and harmed businesses by taking away the public conveniences. Bedford BID and Harpur Centre businesses in particular expressed concern that the closures were driving shoppers away from Bedford as elderly and disabled visitors and families did not have good access to toilets. The Council’s replacement Community Toilet Scheme is still virtually unknown to most town centre users.
‘This is a victory for local people following their long campaign. The importance of re-opening the toilets was evident when nearly 2,000 people signed the petition calling for the closures to be reversed. The Conservative Group is pleased to have supported the residents in forcing the Council into a u-turn.’