Potential location for new Kettering public toilets revealed

New permanent public toilets could open on land behind Kettering’s Peacock pub, a council has revealed.

For years shoppers who were caught short have had to either pay to use a toilet in the Newlands Shopping Centre or pop to a supermarket or McDonald's.

Temporary loos were installed in Meadow Road in 2020, but they are due to be removed this month and last year Kettering Town Council revealed plans to open new permanent loos.

Their budget for 2022-23 includes spending about £70,000 on installing and maintaining the toilets.

And a council report ahead of Thursday’s (April 14) finance and governance committee meeting has revealed their preferred location for them.

The town council hopes to install the loos on land behind the Lower Street pub and adjacent to Wadcroft car park. The land belongs to North Northamptonshire Council (NNC),

A council report said: “They seem prepared to transfer the land to the town council for this purpose at no cost, although formal agreement has yet to be reached.

“The site has utility connections nearby and is large enough for the facilities likely to be required, and it may be possible to retain the tree currently on the site.”

The council said that two or three self-contained cubicles, including one with baby changing and a disabled access specification, would suffice for an estimated usage level of 20,000 visits per year and could cope with ‘considerably more’.

But their total budget of £70,000 would be challenged by the proposed costings - in one case exceeded by some distance – and it would not be possible to open the toilets before next March or April they were to stay within budget.

Councillors are set to discuss alternative ways of funding the new toilets tomorrow night.

These include borrowing the sum required, seeking Section 106 contributions via NNC from the Hanwood Park project, delaying the implementation to use money from next year’s precept and using reserves to make up the difference.

The meeting takes place in the Municipal Offices in Bowling Green Road at 7pm.