Toilets not a luxury
As local tour guides we have become very concerned by the effect that the proposed closure of public toilets will have on Shetland’s tourism industry and, of course, inconvenience for local people too. The perception of Shetland given by finding a closed toilet facility is worse than finding that there is no provision at all.
Take the Bigton toilets for example, which are now under threat of being closed during the winter months. They have always been well used by both tourists and Shetland residents alike and considered by many people to be a very necessary basic amenity, not some kind of luxury.
During the summer months (and less often during the winter) we frequently take tourists to St. Ninian’s Isle and very often stop at the nearby Bigton toilets helping to make the day more comfortable for the visitors.
St. Ninian’s Isle is one of the most popular and famous of Shetland’s tourist attractions. As this is one of the iconic images of Shetland we feel that having toilets open nearby to be extremely important factor in maintaining its reputation. It should be noted too that the Bigton toilets are well used by families bringing their children to the Bigton play park.
Although our main tourist season runs from May to September there are a smaller number of visitors coming to Shetland all year. We see increases in visitor numbers for specific events such as wool week in October, the Lerwick Up Helly Aa in January and not forgetting some well attended annual musical events and festivals.
“Out of Season” visits by travel journalists are not uncommon and the impression they portray of Shetland has quite an influence on our reputation. Many of us in the tourist industry would dearly love to lengthen the tourist season here in Shetland and closing toilets would be detrimental to the visitor experience here at any time of year.
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We don’t know the exact cost of running public toilets but it must be small in the grand scheme of things, even at a time when savings are needed. We would like to think of it as both a small investment for tourism and for rural communities.
If the SIC wants to support the local tourism industry (as we’re sure all councillors say they do) then keeping public toilets open twelve months a year where they are being used would be a great help.
We believe that closing the toilets in Bigton, Brae and other locations would undermine a lot of good work done in recent years by those striving to promote Shetland as a tourist destination.
So to help safeguard that investment we urge councillors to keep those public toilets which are being well used open twelve months a year. Keeping toilets open is an investment of a relatively small sum of money, which will make a big difference to Shetland residents and tourists.
Yours faithfully,
James Tait
Island Trails
Allen Fraser
Shetland Geotours
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