Nairn harbour toilets to introduce 'pay-to-pee' after being taken over from Highland Council by private company
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HIGHLAND Council has handed the public toilets at Nairn harbour to a private company which can now charge up to 50p for entry.
The local authority has passed the small block to a boat cruise firm, which has pledged to keep it open for the public but said a charge for use was on the cards.
A council spokeswoman said the company, called North 58 was leasing the building on a “full repairing and insuring basis” and it had full responsibility for the running of the toilets.
She said the lease costing £1-a-year was “an interim measure” while the sale was being finalised.
The final figure was requested but was not available at the time of going to press.
Speaking on behalf of North 58 owner Simon Paterson, skipper Elaine MacPhail said the toilet transfer deal would obviously be good for their customers but it would also safeguard the future of the block.
It was on the council’s toilet closure hit list drawn up to cut costs.
Ms MacPhail said there would be no change in the immediate future but a charge for use was inevitable.
She said: “As we are now going into our season we don’t have the time to do anything so the toilets will continue to be available to the public free-of-charge, but possibly towards October-November time we may have to look at imposing a small charge for use.
“It’s not going to be a profit-making business, that’s for sure, but we will have cleaning costs and maintenance costs, and vandalism costs and things like that.”
The toilets were run by the council but were earmarked for closure with other blocks across the Highlands as a budget-saving.
The council said North 58 asked to purchase the block and keep it open as a public convenience.
The lease says the tenant is responsible for “all costs”, the block must be used as a toilet facility, and any entry charge can be “no more than 50p”.
