Northumberland awarded £200,000 for new Changing Places accessible toilets

Northumberland County Council has secured the full £202,600 it applied for from the Government’s Changing Places fund.

It will support a new publicly accessible Changing Places facility in the shop at The Alnwick Garden, a new Changing Places facility at Druridge Bay Country Park, a new Changing Places facility at the Woolmarket in Berwick to replace the old single unisex toilet facility there.

The funding will complement the wider county council investment of £1.35m in a three-year programme of works to improve the standard of all of the 54 public toilets in the county for which it has responsibility.

Cllrr John Riddle, cabinet member for local services at Northumberland County Council, said: “This is great news and will provide much improved facilities in some of our popular tourist areas.

“We know how important good toilet facilities are for residents and visitors and these Changing Places facilities will be so useful for those with additional needs.

“This funding, which takes our investment to over £1.5m, will further enhance our major improvement programme to scores of public toilets across the county.”

Cllr Catherine Seymour, member for Berwick North, added: "The Changing Places accessible toilets to replace the old tardis toilet in Woolmarket is something desperately needed for our town and I am very pleased that funding has now been made available for a facility here and in other areas in the county."

Designed for those who struggle to use standard accessible toilets, these new state-of-the-art facilities come with additional equipment such as hoists, adult sized changing benches and space for carers.

They are targeted at areas where they are most needed such as parks, shopping centres and train stations with little to no access facilities.

The announcement brings the amount of funding awarded under the government’s Changing Places scheme to £30.5 million. The scheme is providing more than 600 new facilities, bringing the total of Changing Places toilets across England to 1,900.

Levelling Up Minister Dehenna Davison, said: “Today’s funding will see 120 new Changing Places toilets in places where they are most needed, helping ensure disabled people and their carers can go about their lives with dignity.”