A CEREDIGION seaside town is set to lose one of its public toilets and bin collections from its main beach, just days after it was named as one of the hottest UK destinations for the summer.
HomeToGo, a marketplace with the world’s largest selection of holiday rentals, released its 2023 Spring/Summer Travel Trends which named New Quay as the top Wales destination, and the third highest trending UK town or city.
The picturesque west Wales town, famed for its expansive sandy beach and population of bottlenose dolphins, was only beaten by Scottish town Dunoon and Aberdeen.
New Quay Town Council issued a statement expressing its disappointment at the move by Ceredigion County Council.
New Quay Town Council chair Julian Evans said: “Members of New Quay Town Council wish to inform users of New Quay main beach regarding their disappointment that Ceredigion County Council has decided to close the Sandy Sip public conveniences and remove the refuse bins from New Quay main beach.
“They are closing the public conveniences as they require major repair and the county council do not have the budget to address these costs. The town council has made representation to the council stating that these conveniences should remain open as their usage is high; but to no avail.”
He added: “The bins are being removed from the main beach due to health and safety of the staff that collect the refuse, as the bins are too large and heavy. Also, the new refuse van is unable to reverse down to the beach to collect the bin bags. Additional bins will now be relocated on the Cnwc instead.”
He hoped beach-users would make every effort to keep the town tidy.
“New Quay Town Council is hopeful that beach users will take their refuse with them from the beach home or to the bins on the Cnwc. Please let’s work together to keep New Quay clean and tidy for all.”
In another potential tourism blow for the seaside town, the organisers of the annual soapbox derby have said they will be unable to hold a 2023 event “due to a tightening of the local authority requirements for events and road closures”.
A spokesperson for Ceredigion County Council said: “Officers from the county council have been proactively looking to engage with the town councils, including at New Quay, in relation to street cleaning matters.
“This has involved meeting with representatives from New Quay Town Council and sharing with them the level of service the county council will be able to provide during 2023.”
They added: “There have been long-term issues with the building housing the toilets at Sandy Slip, with the service provision having being closed since May 2022.
“At a recent site meeting with local representatives from the county council, town council and local business where all the issues were discussed there was a consensus agreement that the toilets in this location were no longer a viable option.
“There is another toilet provision for this beach at St John Street which is more convenient for beach users.
“Any permanent closure of this provision will have to be reported for formal approval by Ceredigion Cabinet.”
On the issue of the soapbox derby no-go, the spokesperson said: “There hasn’t really been a ‘tightening of the requirements’, but we have been in proactive contact with a number of event organisers with regard to putting in place measures to ensure we have safe and enjoyable events for all users.
“In this case, they were contacted to give early advice on what they would need to have in place, but they felt that, with what was required, they wouldn’t have the time as volunteers to provide everything they needed.
“Our advice and support is as much about ensuring that event organisers protect themselves as it is us wanting to make sure we carry out our checks diligently, especially where our assets are used.”
