There are not enough publicly accessible toilets in Powys when an extra 4.6 million visitors to the county are taken into consideration.

And it has been revealed that there are no baby-changing facilities in Machynlleth or Llanidloes, amongst other towns.

The observations comes from a study and consultation into the provision of loos throughout the county.

The Local Toilet Strategy three-month consultation held by Powys County Council came to an end on Monday, 22 April.

Part 8 of the Public Health Wales Act, which came into force on May 2018, expects each county council in Wales to prepare and publish a local toilets strategy for its area.

The Economy, Residents, Communities and Governance Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday, 17 April heard a report by Dr Greg Thomas, Events/Civil Contingencies project officer on the Toilets Strategy.

Dr Thomas criticises how toilet need is calculated, by pointing out that Powys attracts 4.6 million visitors a year especially during the summer months.

Dr Thomas said: “The relevant population in an area when calculating toilet need should include commuters, tourists, visitors, as well as residents, however this data as a whole is unavailable for Powys.”

On the research the study has found, Dr Thomas, added: “There are publicly accessible toilet facilities available throughout the county, with at least one facility in each of the main towns.

"Taking the British Toilet Association recommendations there is a sufficient number of standard accessible toilets available within each locality of Powys.

"Although towns are well catered for, a clear gap in publicly accessible toilet provision can be seen in more rural areas, and along the vast road network in Powys.”

Dr Thomas said that the research found: “A lack of baby-changing facilities in Powys with no such facilities being found in the Welshpool, Montgomery, Newtown, Hay and Talgarth, Llanidloes or Machynlleth. Furthermore, in Llanfair Caereinion and Ystradgynlais, baby-changing facilities are only available within female toilets.”

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