Weybourne's £12k eco-toilets shutting after just three years

But just three years after it was installed, Weybourne's £12,000 compost toilet is due to shut after racking up a cleaning bill of £75,000 and a string of complaints which closed it for much of that period.

The facility in the beach car park is one of 14 which are due to be fully or partially closed by North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) as part of a cost-saving measure that could reel in £46,000 extra cash a year.

However, while other toilets are earmarked for closure because they lack visitors, Weybourne's loo has instead been abused and misused. 

The eco-toilet in Weybourne is currently shut (Image: Sonya Duncan) Councillors have described the state of the toilet, which uses no water, power or chemicals, as "oppressive". They fear cleaning the facility is affecting staff welfare.

Councillors celebrate the opening of the eco-toilet in July 2021 (Image: NNDC)

The sanitation situation has meant the toilet is frequently shut for days on end. It is also hitting the authority hard financially, costing more than £25,000 annually to maintain. 

This meant that the income from Weybourne's car park failed to cover the costs of maintaining the toilet, by about £1,300.

READ MORE: Stalham peeved over plans to make it only town without a loo

Motorhome owners emptying their chemical toilets into the eco-loo have been blamed for the problems at Weybourne (Image: Newsquest)

WHO IS TO BLAME?

Councillors have blamed caravanners and motor home users for the fiasco.

Campers have been using the loo to dump out their chemical toilets. This then contaminates the naturally composting waste as the chemicals make it solidify and harden. 

"This was an innovative scheme but it has failed. It was a mistake," said NNDC leader Tim Adams.

Tim Adams, leader of North Norfolk District Council (Image: Newsquest)

The council has said connecting it to a main sewer would prove too costly so the decision has been made to shut it this month.

Portaloos placed at the site to make up for the toilet's frequent closure have faced similar issues. 

Dr Victoria Holliday, North Norfolk District councillor for Coastal ward (Image: Newsquest)

Dr Victoria Holliday, Conservative councillor for Coastal ward, which covers Weybourne, worries the closure could cause hikers walking the Norfolk Coastal Path to get caught short.

"Demand is quite high there. There must be hundreds of thousands of walkers that use that path each year. Perhaps more attention could have been given to the site to prevent this from happening."

A plaque outside the Weybourne eco-toilet explaining how it works (Image: Denise Bradley)

She highlighted that people travelling east from Cley will have to travel for 7.5 miles before reaching the next public toilets in Sheringham, about a two-hour hike.

'HARDLY OPEN'

The council has been forced to padlock the toilet shut, and only disabled people with a special key are now able to use it.

Visitors to the car park say they have often seen it closed on previous occasions.

Fishermen said they had never seen the Weybourne eco-toilet open over the last two years. From left, Aaron Jackson, Pail Varnam and William Varnam (Image: Denise Bradley) William Varnam, a fisherman visiting with his son and friend from Leicester, said: "Over the last two years when we have been here we have not seen it open. It means there is nowhere to go but it is the same anywhere, public toilets are often shut."

Julia Parker, from Holt (Image: Denise Bradley)

Julia Parker, from Holt, who regularly walks her dog on Weybourne beach, said: "I have never seen anybody there using it but I don't take a huge amount of notice, to be honest."

Maire and Roger Kay with Roma and Ralphie. (Image: Denise Bradley)

Roger Kay, who was visiting from Wisbech with his wife Maire, said: "I used it once years ago but it seems to be bolted up now. It worked fine when it was open."

CARAVANNERS BLAMED FOR COASTAL STINK

Weybourne isn't the only village on the north Norfolk coast to have faced a deluge of problems blamed on caravanners.

In nearby Salthouse, just two miles west, similar issues have emerged which prompted the parish council to call for a ban on motor caravans.

Overnight visitors there have been emptying their chemical toilets directly into the verges and ditches that line Beach Road. 

The situation gained notoriety nationally and has been dubbed the "Salthouse Stink".