Calls for public toilets at busy north Tipperary park
There have been calls for public toilets to be added to a busy park in Tipperary.
Councillor Eddie Moran raised the issue at the February meeting of Tipperary County Council, saying that busloads of people were arriving in Templemore, and particularly on weekends, there is nowhere for them to use the bathroom.
Calling on the county council to consider public toilets for Templemore Town Park as part of the overall masterplan for the area, Cllr Moran said that the issue needs to be addressed.
"We have a fabulous park, but we have big issues still going on, and I have to bring it up here, because it’s two years since I raised this first, but is it in the masterplan for public toilets down in the town park?
"There’s no point in having them up on the Roscrea Road, we want this down in the town centre,” Cllr Moran said.
The park is a popular destination for families and sports groups, particularly at weekends. The park sits in the town centre of Templemore, and the trees in the park were originally planted by the Carden family over 250 years ago.
The park features a sensory garden, outdoor picnic tables, a children’s playground, and outdoor exercise machines, among other facilities.
"The bank holiday weekend just gone, there was a busload of people there with young kids that had nowhere to go to the toilet, even the town hall was closed and you can’t expect these people to be going into the hotel, 25 or 30 people at a time,” he added.
People using toilets in local businesses would put more pressure on the businesses themselves who have to pay for their water, Cllr Moran explained, and said that the council should be providing facilities for people visiting the town.
"There’s hundreds of people who come to the town park every weekend, every day of the week and every night, and we have a lovely basketball court there as well, and there’s no place for these people to go to the toilet.
"You have to go to a toilet whether it’s raining or snowing or the sun is shining, so we need this issue addressed some way or another with the masterplan the council has for Templemore, there has to be money put aside for this in the park in the town centre,” Cllr Moran added.
In response, Eamon Lonergan of the council’s environmental section said that the point was well made, but that the issue was more of a district issue than one for the environment section.
"I know, Cllr Moran, you’ve raised this issue with me many, many times, but the masterplan is being developed by the Thurles-Templemore Municipal District and the planning section, not through the environment and climate action section, and the roads section would be the budget holders there,” Mr Lonergan said.
"The best place to go back and ask that is probably the district, I know you have mentioned it before and you continue to make a case for that,” he added.