Whitehills public toilets refurbished thanks to community collaboration
A community project has upgraded and modernised a village’s public toilets.
The facilities at Loch Street in Whitehills are run by the community council in a building that is owned by the local authority.
The toilets have been upgraded to provide a cleaner, more modern space for residents and visitors alike.
Whitehills and District Community Council chairman Duncan Leece said: “The building was destined to close 25 years ago in a round of council budget cuts.
“That wasn't popular in the village and the community council chairman at the time, Charles Napier, asked if the village was interested in taking on the running of the toilets.
“That was quite a new thing back then and we had some real campaigners including Hilda Mears.
“A deal was brokered whereby the community would take on the running of the toilets and the council would retain ownership of the building and be responsible for any major maintenance to it.
“It's been a great relationship that's worked for 25 years but it wouldn't have done without all the volunteers.
“Jill Clark takes the lead now for the community council and for many years it was Pearl and Freddie Clark who lived next door to the building. Every day it's been cleaned and opened.
“Unfortunately a couple of years ago it was becoming very obvious that the building was just about done.
“The roof was leaking, the windows were boarded up. It had come to the time where it needed a major overhaul.
“Aberdeenshire Council were very helpful. They redid the roof, which cured the leak.
“They put in all new windows and doors, external doors and that gave us a great watertight building and the motivation to go on further.
“We wanted to improve the internal layout of the toilets and at the same time upgrade them to something much more modern.
“It was always going to be a compromise because there was only so much we could do without ripping out all the internal walls
“The layout we've got is better and we have an accessible toilet now.
“We couldn't have done this without first of all the cooperation with the council but also the funding from the wind farm community fund, which is now owned by a company called Nadara.
“It's been a really great project, a lot of people have put a lot of effort into it.
“It's a brilliant new facility and well done everyone involved.”
