North Yorkshire Council considers offloading public toiletsKey witness appeal following sex assault in Harrogate public toilet

North Yorkshire Police today issued an appeal to find a key witness follow a sexual assault in Harrogate.

The incident, which happened in the Victoria Shopping Centre toilets, took place on September 17.

A man and a woman entered a cubicle together and police believe the man in the image may hold important information.

The force said in a statement:

“The suspect in the case has been identified and officers want to stress that the man they want to trace is not a suspect, but a witness who may be able to provide vital information.

“A man and a woman went into public toilets in Victoria Shopping Centre in Harrogate, opposite the railway station.

“They were both followed into the toilet by the man in the image below. The man appears visibly surprised to see both the man and woman enter the male toilet together and may remember the incident.”

The statement added officers hope the man reads the appeal and gets in touch because he “may be able to provide key information that could assist their investigation”.

The police added:

“If you believe that you are the man, or you also saw a man and woman in the male toilets that day, please get in touch.

“Anyone with any information is asked to email lorraine.whipp@northyorkshire.police.uk or call 101, press option 2 and ask for Lorraine Whipp.”

Quote reference number 12230176639 when passing on information,

If you wish to remain anonymous, you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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Bettys applies to create new baby changing room in Harrogate tea rooms

A new baby changing facility could be created at Bettys‘ Parliament Street tea rooms if planning permission is given.

The company proposes changing the layout of its basement toilets to allow a separate room to be created for baby changing, rather than the current changing table within the ladies’ toilets.

The building is Grade II listed so permission has to be given by Harrogate Borough Council for any changes to be made.

As part of the application, a design and heritage statement said:

“Currently, the building does not have any separated room for baby change, accessible to all. The current baby change use allocated within the ladies toilet.

“Firstly, the proposal aims to divide the existing ladies customers toilets to create two separated rooms within the existing space, with two independent doors from the Spindler corridor. This allows the baby change to be used independently.

“Secondly, the proposed refurbishment creates an opportunity to enhance the design for the female toilets and baby change with the general palette through the rest of this building and other Bettys branches.”

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The proposed design would replace the dark wooden panels and tiled flooring with new materials including limestone and timber, as well as updated decor including wallpaper.

A fireplace in the ladies’ toilets will also be refurbished as part of the project.

To view the full application, click here to visit Harrogate Borough Council’s planning site and use reference 22/01430/LB.

Unison awaiting answers over Harrogate council staff using public toilets

The trade union Unison is still in talks with Harrogate Borough Council over some staff having to use public toilets during office hours.

The union first raised concerns in April when plans to move Knaresborough Tourist Information Centre into the Courthouse Museum got underway.

As part of the move, roles are set to be amalgamated — tourist information officers and museum assistants will become ‘visitor experience assistants’ and become part of the council’s new Destination Management Organisation led by Gemma Rio to coordinate tourism.

The museum site doesn’t have adequate on-site toilet facilities, forcing staff to use public toilets on Cheapside.

Unison has argued the situation was never ideal and is now no longer viable as more staff join them.

The council and union representatives have met in recent weeks to discuss alternatives. The union is now waiting for the council to respond.

David Houlgate, Unison Harrogate branch secretary, said:

“We’ve asked them [the council] to identify somewhere for staff to have decent welfare facilities. We both agree Portakabins wouldn’t be suitable.”

The union has said it is also making contact with local organisations to see if it’s possible for staff to share facilities.

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Mr Houlgate added:

“The union understands there won’t be any compulsory redundancies but there may be some voluntary redundancies. We want to avoid any compulsory redundancies.”

‘Not possible to install toilets at museum’

A council spokeswoman said

“The Knaresborough Tourist Information Centre has relocated into the Courthouse Museum at Knaresborough Castle as planned. This coincided with the castle’s reopening following lockdown on July 19.

“The decision to relocate the tourist information centre into the courthouse museum pre-dates the creation of the Destination Management Organisation and the restructure that is currently being undertaken.

“There is no toilet available on site at Knaresborough castle and museum and due to the historic nature of the site it is not possible for us to install one.

“For this reason the staff at the castle are required to use the public toilets in the adjacent car park which are owned, managed and cleaned by Harrogate Borough Council.

“Staff at the Castle have used these public toilets for as long as the site has been staffed. However, we are continuing to explore alternative arrangements within the vicinity”.

Harrogate council defends plans for staff to use public toilets

Harrogate Borough Council has defended its plans to ask staff to use public toilets in Knaresborough.

Staff at the council-run Knaresborough tourist information centre are due to move from their current location in the town library to the Courthouse Museum in the grounds of Knaresborough Castle in June.

Museum workers already use nearby public toilets on Cheapside because the ancient castle doesn’t have a drainage system.

Tourist information staff now face the same situation.

A council spokesperson said:

“Knaresborough Castle and the Courthouse Museum are ancient monuments, which do not have any drainage facilities. To install them would come at a significant cost along with a number of archaeological challenges.

“Therefore, employees are expected to use public toilets, which are located close by in Castle Yard.”

David Houlgate, branch secretary at Unison Harrogate has raised concerns, saying office workers having to use outdoor toilets should “definitely remain a thing of the past”.

He added:

“Whilst public toilets are OK if people are caught short when out and about in the town, they are not suitable to be the designated toilets for staff working in an indoor environment promoting the town and wider district.

“There is also no guarantee that they will be open when needed.”

Mr Houlgate said council bosses were pushing ahead with the planned move without addressing the “reasonable and legitimate” concerns of staff.

Unison has also raised concerns about disabled access at the museum.

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The council spokesperson replied:

“The museum has level access to the rear of the building so that it can be accessed by everyone. Unfortunately, as a historic listed building with a number of internal and external steps, it is not possible to provide full access to the building.

“The welfare of our staff is paramount and we will continue to update them as plans progress and address any concerns they may have.”

The spokesperson added that moving the tourist centre into the heart of Knaresborough would provide a “better service” for visitors and residents.

Lack of Harrogate toilets could force shoppers to ‘go behind a bush’

A Harrogate retailer has criticised the number of open public toilets in the town since shops reopened on Monday, saying shoppers could be forced “to go behind a bush”.

Bob Kennedy, who owns G23 and Porters in Harrogate, said his stores have had several customers this week who have travelled from outside Harrogate and cannot find anywhere to go when they need the toilet.

Harrogate Borough Council reopened its Valley Gardens and Library Gardens toilets on June 13. However, the toilets at Victoria Shopping Centre, which are not owned by the council, are currently closed until further notice.

Currently, the nearest public toilet to the town centre is Library Gardens, which Mr Kennedy said is ‘not good enough’ as it’s too far away for shoppers.

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With toilets in cafes and restaurants still unavailable, he suggested it could force people into some uncomfortable situations.

Mr Kennedy said:

“How can you say to people, ‘come to shop in Harrogate, but you better not drink anything because if you want to go to the loo you’re absolutely knackered unless you want to go behind a bush?’

“What about people who have small children? Where will they go? They’ll go up a back alley.”

Mr Kennedy, who was the chairman of the Harrogate Business Improvement District (BID) until March when he resigned, also criticised Harrogate Borough Council and the BID for not providing alternatives to shoppers such as portaloos.

Harrogate BID declined to make a comment.

A spokesperson for the Victoria Shopping Centre told the Stray Ferret that its toilets will not reopen until they believe it is safe to do so.

They said:

“Initially when we open and until we are happy our plans around social distancing are working, we don’t intend to open the public toilets. It is important that we get a feel for how busy the shopping centre and town are before further reviewing. We are reviewing our risk assessments on a continuous basis and due to the narrow entrances to the toilets, we have concluded that for the time being, the public toilets will not be open.

“Our primary concern is opening the centre in a safe way and also considering the welfare of both customers, tenants and staff at all times.”