Toilets at Norwich's Mousehold Heath to get £36,000 refurb
They'll be turned into unisex toilets
Last updated 24th Jan 2023
Refurbishment of the public toilets on Mousehold Heath in Norwich will finally go ahead, as part of a project that will see the women’s block permanently closed and replaced with unisex units.
The work at the facilities at the Gurney Road car park is expected to cost £36,000.
It will see the men’s loos turned into two unisex units, while the women’s block will be shut entirely.
Each cubicle will be accessed by separate doorways and will have its own hand-washing facilities.
The refurbished facilities will also include a mobile hoist, to help the elderly and people with disabilities, as well as a safety alarm system and a baby changing area.
The scheme was finally given the go-ahead last week, at a meeting of the Mousehold Heath conservators – the group which oversees the 184-acre site – ending a long-running saga.
Previous proposals for the site included converting the women’s toilet block into a storage facility.
But officials told the meeting the costs were too high.
In a report, they said: “The toilets are in such a state of disrepair it was going to cost about £3,000 to secure them and replace the rotten wood. We decided it would be better to store materials in another place.”
The conservators opted for the refurbishment after rejecting another option which would have seen the toilets closed completely, with work carried out on improving the ones at the nearby Fountain Ground Field, further up Gurney Road, instead.
This was anticipated to cost £4,000.
Mike Sands, chairman of the conservators, said: “The temptation to just upgrade the Fountain Ground facility is great – only £4,000.
“But the £36,000 will be money well spent and it doesn’t preclude some future occasion returning to the Fountain Ground and doing some upgrade there as well, when budget and finances permit.”
Plans for improvements were previously discussed in March last year but were deferred for the cost of work to be established.
At a later meeting, in June, the conservators had the extra information but said they were not sure they were responsible for refurbishing the toilets at all.