Fortrose public toilets volunteers say ‘you only notice when they disappear’ following vandalism attacks
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Fortrose volunteers who work to keep the village’s public toilets running, believe that “you only notice when they disappear”, following a series of vandalism attacks directed at the community-owned facility.
Rosemarkie and Fortrose Trust (RAFT) was set up in 2019, after the Highland Council announced they would no longer be managing the public toilets in the two villages.
Since then, volunteers have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to keep the free toilets running, clean and accommodating with flowers and greenery. The essential facility is continually growing in use from an influx of tourists, delivery drivers, Police officers, parents in need of baby-change facilities and people in need of a disabled-access toilet.
However, the Fortrose public toilet has become the target of a series of vandalism attacks in recent months; from deliberately clogging the toilets with paper, to even deliberately starting a fire.
“I don’t think people are aware of how much work is put in by the volunteers.” Said RAFT trustee Hannah Mather. “Until you stop to think, you don’t realise how vital they are… I’m not sure everyone even realises they aren’t council-run anymore. Public toilets are so seldom talked about, but a really important part of a village – you only notice when they disappear.”
Since the disabled public toilet in Fortrose was set on fire it has remained closed due to damages, with the incident thought to have been caused by a school pupil.
“It would be nice to just have an apology.” Said acting RAFT chairperson Lucy Vaughn. “We’ve been working really hard to bring down our deficit – but something like this happens, it just feels like your going backwards.
“The longer term repercussions of when one child decides to, adds to all of our loads… this is all voluntary work.
“I honestly don’t know why this is happening. All we know is that this person was an academy pupil.”
Explaining how they plan to fix the fire-damaged facility, Lucy continued: “We have to get the toilets back up and running, and we’re faced with either trying to get locals to help us or going through the insurance route, which will increase our premiums.
“There needs to be a sustainable solution. Last week we were trying to clean the toilets, but couldn’t get in because there were so many people using them. There’s often a queue out the toilets – there is a real demand for them.
“We have had a brilliant response after sharing the incident on Facebook, with people offering to help out – we do receive some very generous donations too.
“We need to get the disabled toilet back up and running, we need help.”
