A former county councillor has spoken of his ‘bemusement’ at Ceredigion County Council’s decision to put a public toilet block adjacent to his Aberporth business up for let.

Businessman Gethin James, who runs the nearby Cwtch Café, say he approached the local authority with an offer to take over the toilets above Dyffryn Beach four years ago.

Mr James, 53, said that while he viewed the facility as essential to his business he assured the authority he would also ensure they remained available for public use.

“The purpose of my approach was two-fold,” he told the Cambrian News. “Because of the location of the café, I am unable to provide my own toilets so this would have been an obvious solution.

“And secondly, by taking the toilets over I would be ensuring that they remained available to the community in perpetuity – I suggested I be given a 20-year obligation to run them.”

While Mr James said initial talks were ‘positive’, no progress was made and earlier this year the local authority decided to make the toilets available on the wider market.

“I’m completely bemused that we’ve ended up with this crazy scenario,” said Mr James. “By putting up a ‘land for let’ notice the council are basically offering someone else the opportunity to come along and pitch up next to my own business.”

A Ceredigion County Council spokesperson said: “As a result of an approach by the private sector, a consultation exercise was carried out with Gethin James and the community council in order to ascertain whether they would be interested in managing and maintaining these premises, however they decided they did not wish to pursue this option.

“As a result of this, Cabinet agreed to instruct the council’s Estates Section to test the market to determine whether any other private sector partners would be able to provide a public convenience service at this location subject to the acceptance of a lease."

See this week’s South Ceredigion paper for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now