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REDBRIDGE: More details of proposed toilet cuts

A PENSIONERS group has vowed to fight a proposal which could see four public toilets closed to help ease the council's cash crisis.

According to a report sent to councillors last week, which has been leaked to the Guardian, two mental health facilities could close, less cash could be spent on maintaining roads and cleaning streets and money could be saved on flood drainage repairs.

The measures are being looked at as the authority attempts to save about £4 million this year as a reaction to a £5.8 million reduction in Government grants.

The details show where savings could be made this year and the next three financial years.
The public toilets in Eastwood Close, South Woodford, are used by 700 people each week, according to the council report, and they could bite the dust.

Chris Wilson, chairman of Redbridge Pensioners' Forum, said: "We can't let this pass without some sort of battle."

As well as the conveniences in South Woodford the council will consult on closing toilets in Horns Road, Newbury Park, Aldborough Road South (Seven Kings Park) and in Cranbrook Road, Ilford.

The council figures show 3,450 people a week use the four public toilets.

Mr Wilson, 90, admitted he sometimes spends a penny three times in an hour and he said public toilets are vital to pensioners when they are out and about in the borough.

He said: "Members of my group will be disgusted by this.

"Keeping public toilets is something we've battled for for years.

"The problem is as you get older your bladder gets weaker and not all pubs or restaurants allow you to go in there."

Alf Weggis, 93, of Monkhams Drive, Woodford Green, said: "Elderly people can often need a public toilet urgently and if there isn't one around it is an incovenience."

Two mental health facilities in Ilford, residential accommodation Abury House and day centre Ley Street House, could be closed to save £551,000 each year over the next four years.
Andrew Wallace's partner Suzan Arisoy took her own life in 2008 after battling bipolar and depression.

Mr Wallace, 44, of Broadmead Road, Woodford Green, said Miss Arisoy would have strongly opposed cuts to mental health services.

He said: "People with mental health issues can become isolated as there is often a stigma and friends and sometimes family end up shunning the person with the problem.

"Facilities for people facing these problems are important for offering help and support but also interaction, the facilities are like post offices to the elderly - essential to the social life of someone with mental health problems and they get used to and enjoy going to the same place."

The council report was sent to members last Friday, August 27, and the proposals will be discussed at committees before feedback is considered by the cabinet on October 5.

Final proposals will then go before a special council meeting on October 21.

Savings will include not filling a large number of council vacancies and cutting back on overtime.
Among the document sent to councillors is the option to save £41,000 this year by reducing the amount spent on flood drainage repairs, repairing watercourses and highways drains, although the council says the highest priority works have been completed.

The closure of toilets could save £70,000 this financial year and loos in Chapel Road, Ilford, Wangey Road, Chadwell Heath and Gants Hill could be reduced to opening on a part time basis.

Stopping street cleaning on a Sunday could save £85,000 and early morning sweeps in shopping areas could also end.

Alarmingly for motorists the borough's roads could suffer if highways maintenance spending is reduced.

The council could save £117,000 this year by reducing planned highways maintenance and the report admits "this could lead to an acceleration in the rate of decay of the road network, a growing maintenance backlog, worsening road safety and increased claims against the council".

One area residents might find relief is a saving in relation to the council publication Redbridge Life.

Last month Tim Downes, of Overton Drive, Wanstead, condemned the publication as a "vanity sheet".

The council is aiming to save £25,000 by reducing production and distribution costs

REDBRIDGE NEWS/THE GUARDIAN 31ST AUGUST 2010