Stow's busy Market Square public toilets saved after outcry

The Market Square public toilets will now stay open with the decision made months after Cotswold District Council announced it would be closing them. 

After a unanimous vote, the district council decided to close the other set of public toilets in Stow on Maugersbury Road. This came after a vote in February confirmed that each settlement in the area would only maintain one set, apart from Bourton. 

A petition with more than 1,000 signatures from residents and businesses in Stow was the final push CDC needed after months of complaints. 

Councillor Mike Evemy, cabinet member for finance, said: “Cotswold District Council's challenging financial position has not changed, so we have to consider proposals to streamline our services. 

"We are not required to provide public toilets, but recognise their importance to residents and visitors to our market towns.

“I’m pleased that we have been able to retain the Market Square toilets in Stow as the representations have shown how much they are valued by residents and visitors to the town.”

Residents had criticised the decision to remove the toilets in Market Square saying visitors would have had to visit the toilets on Maugersbury Road. 

Whilst newer, the Maugersbury road toilets are "out of town" and down a steep incline which would be difficult for elderly and disabled people to use. 

This led to fears that the decision could make people think twice about visiting Stow, adversely affecting businesses in the town. 

Speaking before the news was announced, Maggie Deacon, a former Stow Town Council councillor, said: "We are a tourist town and I volunteer at a charity shop and almost every other customer asks the question about where the nearest toilet is. 

"When they are closed I will have to tell them that it is a 10 minute walk downhill and then they will have to walk back up a fairly steep hill, which if you are fit and healthy is ok but not if you are elderly."