ILKLEY Town Council is pushing for new proposals over the management of the public toilets at White Wells to be scrapped so they can be re-opened.

The toilets have been closed to the public since the start of the Covid pandemic in March 2020, and though Bradford Council, which owns and maintains the facilities, wants to re-open them, they want the Town Council to put more work in to them.

Previously, the conveniences were open 24 hours a day and the Town Council had responsibility for cleaning them and replenishing consumables.

Now Bradford wants to rip up the existing service agreement and replace it with a new one that would see Town Council staff open the toilets in the morning and close them at night.

They say this is due to concerns over vandalism, but the Town Council says there have been no reports of anti social behaviour at the facilities.

The Town Council has now written to the Ilkley’s three district councillors who sit on Bradford Council to ask them to use their influence to get the council to reconsider.

The letter says: “Ilkley Town Council believes that the toilet at White Wells is a much needed facility and is keen to see the service back in use. The Town Council would be delighted to support the facility on the same basis as before the pandemic, providing daily cleaning services, replenishing consumables and remove associated litter.

“Bradford Council have provided a revised service level agreement which significantly increases the level of service and responsibility on Ilkley Town Council. Unfortunately the Town Council is not in a position to commit to these additional responsibilities and increased financial risk due to heavy commitments to the toilets at Riverside and central car park.”

The letter adds that the town council wants to support Bradford Council to keep the well-used facility open but "is unable to accept responsibility for the management, maintenance and insurance of the building”. It says that Bradford Council has "requested that Ilkley Town Council open and close the toilet each day due to concerns about vandalism, however the facility was previously open 24 hours a day and we are not aware of any incidents of vandalism. This seems like an unnecessary burden. Ilkley Town Council would like the public conveniences to remain open and hopes that agreement can be reached but it is unable to agree to the service level agreement as proposed.”

A spokesperson for Ilkley Town Council told the Ilkley Gazette: “Ilkley Town Council is seeking to work constructively with Bradford MDC to enable the White Wells toilets to reopen.

“We hope that agreement can be reached to enable us to continue servicing the toilets, as we did previously, whilst recognising that, at this time, the Town Council does not have a budget or human resources to take over the management of this Bradford Council-owned and maintained facility.

“This is particularly the case as we undertake a refurbishment of the Town Council toilets at Riverside Gardens, and have started preparatory work to renew the central car park toilets.

“We are aware that many residents and visitors visiting Ilkley Moor greatly valued these toilets prior to their closure. In particular we are concerned that the continuing absence of toilets at White Wells is limiting access to the Moor for educational groups and those with particular health needs.

“The Town Council has written to Ilkley's three Bradford District Councillors to ask them to use their combined influence with Bradford Council to help us to reach a mutually acceptable agreement, and we would like to thank them for their efforts."

Bradford Council has been contacted for comment.