REOPEN the Boscombe Overcliff toilets at once.

The only public toilets, including disabled toilets serving the Boscombe Overcliff Gardens, the Honeycomb clifftop, the Boscombe Overcliff, Shelley Park and tennis courts; have now been locked for three years. This is a wholly unacceptable situation which should be addressed immediately.

No members of the public, including ratepayers, disabled people, and air show crowds using this large area of public space, have had access to these toilets now for three years. They are fully functioning toilets, but permanently locked.

In the meantime BCP Council has taken the idiotic decision of spending an estimated £10,000 of ratepayers’ money by adding three sets of iron gates to the outside of the toilets; each gate contains two locks plus the original toilet door lock. So we have nine high-security locks, locking this single set of toilets, why? Has the council in its wisdom decided that this toilet is now reallocated as BCP Fort Knox for the council’s gold reserves?

Disabled people, elderly people, and people who simply want to spend the afternoon or evening on the cliff are prevented from using the toilets and have been forced to go to the toilet in the shrubbery instead. It is their public right to have these toilets available.

Whether a man slept in the doorway to the toilets once, or whether a drug dealer used toilets to do a deal is of no relevance. The public’s right to have access to these toilets must take precedence.

The locking of these toilets for three years has all the hallmarks of a decision taken by a stupid BCP council individual. I’m sure that no committee in the council could have made such a bad decision – but on reflection, it may have all the hallmarks of a BCP council committee decision.

Robert Wilson

Ravine Road