A WAR of words has broken out betw­een two Meirionnydd councillors over the future of public toilets in the county.

A report outlining possible alternative arrangements that would allow some closure-threatened toilets to remain open was considered by the council’s communities scrutiny committee on 19 May.

The options involve inviting town and community councils to contribute towards the cost of maintaining facilities and possibly transferring responsibility for facilities to them in future.

Llangelynnin councillor Louise Hughes told her fellow committee members that she found the idea of closing public toilets in the county as ‘insane’.

She said: “First of all I think it’s ironic we are actually discussing this subject on world IBD day. Those of us who are lucky enough to enjoy good health, we’re fine maybe, we can think well this is just public toilets, but people with medical conditions are seriously affected by this.

Cllr Linda Morgan, who represents Dolgellau South, congratulated the report by the council and said it was important to encourage more community toilets within Gwynedd.

She said: “I think it’s very important we now establish a partnership with local communities to keep as many toilets open as possible.

“On top of the council’s 74 public toilets we also have 35 community toilets. These toilets are the way forward and they are doing really well.”

A final decision will be made by Gwynedd Council’s Cabinet at a later date.

See the full story in this week’s Meirionnydd and Arfon/Dwyfor editions of the Cambrian News