Madam,

Eureka! The penny has finally dropped; public toilets are an essential convenience to ensure the ongoing expansion of tourism in Wales.

A news channel contained a feature about the folly of public toilet closures in the Conwy area and the need to reverse that decision in order to ensure the continued popularity of the area as a tourist destination.

I can only assume that the respective councils are unable to see the picture beyond the current financial year or they would realise that day visits would certainly suffer if visitors found themselves unable to find ‘relief’ upon arrival at their destination, and return visits would be out of the question.

Another relevant issue which appears to have escaped the planners is that the older generation are the ones with disposable income to spend in the principality, but at the same time the neediest when public conveniences lack convenience.

Personally, I am a resident in Wales, but I am also of that certain age when I can plot my journeys based upon the location and availability of public toilets en route.

If there are none, then I will not go because I am also of that age when sidling up to a bush in the middle of town is unacceptable and humiliating, as is the tell-tale dark patch at the front of one’s trousers.

The councils are being very short-sighted in their money-saving initiatives. What they gain in the immediate future will be lost, and more, when the tourists, and residents, cease to travel into and around Wales because it has degenerated into dirty and substandard destination.

Public toilets and street cleaning must be returned to their previous levels.

I would cite as a particularly deplorable situation that of Newcastle Emlyn, a thriving town with definite tourist appeal and now reduced to a single-cubicle, multi-purpose facility tucked away where only the most determined or desperate can find it. They can be recognised by their stooped, knees-together, shambling gait and the haggard look on their faces.

So much for progress in the 21st century.

Yours etc,

Allan Phillips, New Quay.

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