New 'super loo' will cost £200,000

It will cost 13,075 per year to lease the automatic public convenience at Market Street with the toilet owners - JC Decaux - being responsible for cleaning, maintenance, repair of vandalism, breakages and graffiti removal for the 15 year period.

The toilets will be able to be used 24 hours a day and as well as having baby changing facilities the structure will be accessible for people with disabilities.

Councillors were told it currently costs the Council an average of 8,500 per year to open and close each set of public toilets and the average cost per toilet block for vandalism is 1,000 per year.

Council officer Aidan McPeake said the facility is good value when you consider there will be 24 hour opening.

He said it would cost 200,000 to build new toilets and 160,000 to run them over the same period and that excluded the vandalism bill.

Council Vice-Chairperson, SDLP councillor Madeline Black, said: “At last we are doing something about Market Street. This is a very welcome initiative.”

Cllr Paudie McShane (Independent) also welcomed the development saying there will be more space in the area and with buses being able to pull in it will ease congestion.

And Ulster Unionist councillor Helen Harding said public toilets are needed in Ballycastle town centre and she welcomed the news.

Independent councillor Randal McDonnell thought ratepayers were being “ripped off” with a 13,000 per year price tag to lease the toilet as he said the existing closed facility at Market Street could be done up and he wondered how practical the automatic facility will be for users.