SOURCES within Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) have indicated that the Blestium Street toilets will close at the end of March.

The news comes in the same week that Monmouth Town Council became the official owners of the Agincourt Street facility following six years of negotiation with MCC.

In July 2010 the Beacon reported that the council’s cabinet decided on a proposal to no longer manage or fund 16 of Monmouthshire’s 29 public toilets, saving up to £120,000, but also releasing some funding to improve those toilets retained.

In Monmouth, the toilets at Agincourt Street were proposed for closure, with the block near the Old Monnow Bridge at Blestium Way, earmarked for refurbishment.

Roger Hoggins, head of operations at Monmouthshire County Council (MCC), in a presentation given to Monmouth Town Council in 2010, said the two facilities, situated at opposite ends of the town, cost in the region of £30,000 a year to maintain.

It took nearly six years to complete the transfer once the town council said they would take it on and maintain.

In October 2015, MCC asked town councils for help with local services and facilities. They said closing the Blestium Street toilets would save them £20,000, acknowledging that the town council already shouldered the burden of the £18,000 it costs to maintain the only other toilet facility in the town. It was a direct plea to the town to take on the Blestium Street services, however the town council decided to set aside no revenue in the 2016/2017 budget for Blestium Street toilets but would still seek ownership at a later date.

The takeover would not be as straightforward as the Agincourt Street facility as MCC use the Blestium Street block to store the stalls for the market on the adjacent car park.

David Cummings, Chairman of Monmouth and District Chamber of Trade and Commerce said: “The only means of resolving this issue in the short term is for the town council to pay the costs of keeping the toilets open in 2015/16 out of reserves. This is a very unsatisfactory result for the town, particularly when the Chamber and the Civic Society have been fighting hard to improve the appearance of the outside of the toilet block.

“I am sure that Beacon readers will agree that it is bad enough having scruffy public toilets on the outside by an iconic landmark, but toilets that are closed and boarded up are a much worse scenario and give a very bad image to what is a vibrant town. How we have reached this point without stakeholders including the public being made aware is a mystery to me. How we resolve the situation is clear, but not certain.”