United front over Centro's plan to charge for Walsall toilets
Councillors voted unanimously to press transport authority Centro to drop plans for a 20p charge at Walsall bus station's toilets as the proposals were branded 'scandalous'.
Centro planned to bring in the charge after an £80,000 revamp of the facilities at St Paul's bus station, but the controversial plans were put on hold following criticism.
A motion calling for the facilities to remain free of charge was put forward by Labour councillors at last night's full council meeting and was led by Councillor Richard Worrall, who is also a member of the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority.
He urged councillors to vote unanimously in favour of the motion, claiming it would be the best way to influence Centro to think twice about the plans. But councillors voted in favour of an amendment to the motion put forward by Councillor Pete Smith, which also talked about a lack of consultation surrounding the proposals.
It said the decision to impose charges without any apparent consultation had been 'unacceptable'. The motion also requested that Walsall Council's three representatives on the transport authority make strong representations on the issue.
Speaking at the meeting, Councillor Smith said: "20p a pee, absolutely scandalous. Once they bring it in, it will be 20p this year. Within 10 years we will be needing a pound coin to spend a penny."
In a report to councillors, assistant director of neighbourhood services Keith Stone said there were accessible public conveniences available in close proximity to the bus station including at Tesco, Walsall's New Art Gallery and other pubs and restaurants.
