Joke commode pokes fun at Bognor’s seafront loo saga

The sign on the toilet read “new public toilet provision to be opened by the leader of ADC (then closed for repairs tomorrow, reopened three weeks later and closed again for the busy summer period.)”

It pokes fun at the long and controversial history of the seafront toilets, which were first opened in 2019, only to be shut down for repairs four months later.

The toilets were due to be repaired last October after a ‘breakthrough’ with the contractors responsible for maintaining them, but remain locked and inaccessible.

Even so, Arun District Council hopes to have the toilets open before the Easter bank holiday, and to keep them open throughout the peak season. A spokesperson said the council is ‘extremely disappointed’ by the ongoing issues with the toilets, and made clear that completion of the project had not taken place under the terms of their agreed settlement with the contractors responsible for maintaining the toilets.

Because the company has failed to action the necessary repairs, the council have made plans to commission the work independently.

Any repairs not completed before the toilets reopen, the spokesperson said, will be completed after the peak season.

In the time the toilets have been closed, they have been described as ‘an embarrassment’ by a variety of town councillors.

“They’re an eye sore on our seafront.” Said Bognor Regis town councillor Jeanette Warr, who has spoken out about the toilets before. “We haven’t got proper facilities on our seafront. It’s case that the previous administration would not listen to the public. Would not bend in any way whatsoever.”

“I want to know what’s going on. We could have changing facilities in the old underground toilets. Okay, disabled people can’t get in, but they could if you made an opening on the roadside. I don’t know about the mens, but the women’s are quite large inside. There’s loads of room for changing facilities and that’s what we need to do.”