Row in England's longest village over plans to demolish "iconic" toilets

SWNS

Locals in England's longest village are in heated row with their local council - over the removal of an "iconic" toilet block.  Parish councillors in Meopham, Kent last month voted to remove a loo facility built in the 1950s - a decision residents have labelled a "scandal".  They say the village - which measures seven miles in length - needs the toilets, for walkers and visiting delivery drivers to use.  More than 30 villagers rallied at the toilets to protest the Meopham Parish Council's decision on Friday (January 24).

Transcript

00:00Villages are at war with Meppin Parish Council after its decision to demolish a public toilet.

00:07It wants to replace it with a single unit unisex loo, but people living in the village

00:12are in uproar.

00:13Those toilets were built in 1959, they are solid, there is nothing wrong with those,

00:20we don't need a unisex toilet, a lot of the older population around here just wouldn't

00:24want that anyway.

00:26The council just shut them without any consideration and any conversation with the local population,

00:33but unfortunately the council are now rather unwilling to reconsider opening them and properly

00:41talk about what can be done.

00:43It's an iconic building within Meppin, two, it serves our parish and probably more importantly

00:51it serves visitors to our parish, such as walkers, day-of-ears, van drivers, bus drivers,

00:58postmen, delivery men, everybody that serves our village needs to use these facilities.

01:04We're quite upset really about the fact that the toilets are closed because sometimes we

01:10need to go and it is vital for not just us but everyone in the community.

01:16Meppin Parish Council says it has structural concerns about the facility and that it is

01:21unfit for purpose.

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