Bognor grandmother struggling to sell flat overlooking toilets calls for ‘ugly’ block to be removed

The toilets, with the flats overlooking the blockThe toilets, with the flats overlooking the block
The toilets, with the flats overlooking the block
An 85-year-old Bognor grandmother who says she is struggling to sell her flat because of the ‘ugly’ toilet block outside is calling for it to be removed.

Audrey Reynolds, who wants to relocate to St Albans to be closer to her family, said she has had to knock £25,000 off the asking price for her home in The Esplanade as a result of the toilets putting potential buyers off.

Recalling the comments of a couple who came to view the property last week, she said: “They loved the flat but they couldn’t bear to sit and look at the toilets.”

She said the block was clearly visible from her home.

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The toilets, with the flats overlooking the blockThe toilets, with the flats overlooking the block
The toilets, with the flats overlooking the block

“Facing us is the word ‘toilet’. It hits you in the eye as soon as you look,” she said. “It has made it very difficult.”

The beleaguered block has been beset by problems almost ever since it was installed in 2018.

The toilets were open for just four months before they were closed when defects were discovered, sparking a dispute between Arun District Council and the contractor who supplied them.

A solution appeared to be in sight at the end of last year when repair work was agreed upon – but the toilets still remain closed.

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The toilet blockThe toilet block
The toilet block

Arun District Council said the contractor had failed to complete the works and said legal communications with the company were underway in a ‘continuing effort’ to gain completion of the toilet block.

In the meantime, further remedial works have been carried out.

A council spokesman said: “The situation remains extremely disappointing.

“The Council are acting upon legal advice obtained and are focused on attaining completion, protecting public funding.

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The toilet blockThe toilet block
The toilet block

“We do however remain confident the situation will be resolved and are planning for the toilets to be open ahead of the summer season.”

Councillors have previously branded the situation ‘a monumental embarrassment’.

Ms Reynolds said it was ‘ridiculous’ that the toilets were still unusable.

For a lesser cost, she said the council could have kept the former underground toilets at the site – which she said were ‘ideal’ – and simply hired an attendant to maintain them.

She wants to see the block removed altogether.

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“The best thing they could do is to take the toilets downs,” she said. “Everybody is complaining about them.

“I don’t think the building should be there. It’s the ugliest building, it looks like a prison.”

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