SALTAIRE Village Society says it is cautiously optimistic it will re-open a toilet block partly as a volunteer-run tourist information centre after receiving public support.
Bradford Council has proposed to shut the Saltaire Visitor Information Centre and the toilets at the village’s Caroline Street car park. The toilets are due to close on March 31 next year.
The local authority has to save £172,000 from its tourism budget in the coming year and has placed the future of its four visitor information centres across the district under review. Consultants have recommended closing the offices in Haworth, Saltaire and Ilkley, and only retaining the one in Bradford city centre.
The society is still gauging public interest for its plans to take on the running of the toilets, converting it into a combined public lavatories and tourist kiosk. Itself and other groups including Shipley College, Salt Foundation and Saltaire Stories have held talks with the Council about the society taking on the site.
The Council would lease the toilet block to the society under a Community Asset Transfer, on a peppercorn rent for a minimum of 25 years.
The society and other groups plan to apply for grants to bodies, including the Heritage Lottery Fund, to fund an estimated £8,000 worth of repairs and support the delivery of the volunteer-run service.
The society will hold a leaflet drop in all of the houses in the village over the next couple of weeks to raise awareness of its plans and to recruit new volunteers.
It held a public meeting earlier this month and said there was a lot of interest in its plans. It is also looking to set up a community council for the village.
A Council spokesman said a final decision about the centre and the toilets would be made next month.
Pete Chambers, co-chairman of the society, said: “We are cautiously optimistic about this.
“It is unlikely to be a tourist information centre and more of a kiosk, or a very small hut, but at least it would provide the basics.
“The more people that put themselves forward the better, the more the merrier.”
He said that by March they would need to show the Council that they could take on the facility.
“The society would need to raise funds to cover the £12,000 per year running costs.”
A Bradford Council spokesman said: “Bradford Council is in discussions with Saltaire Village Society about the future of the Caroline Street toilet building. A final decision is expected to be taken by Bradford Council next month.”
To help the society, or for more information, email secretarysvs@gmail.com.
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