Highland Council is proposing to close 14 public toilets and restrict the opening times of nearly a dozen more as part of cost-cutting measures.
Public conveniences from Inverness to Skye have been earmarked for closure and will have the knock-on effect of redundancies at a contractors company employed to clean council toilets.
Councillors will be asked to approve the planned closures at the transport, environmental and community services committee on Thursday.
There are around 112 public council toilets in the region.
However, the proposed closures will not achieve the required amount of savings this year and officials now plan to look at reducing the number of fully attended toilets, putting the jobs of some attendants in jeopardy – and even this measure might not be enough to meet the savings target.
The council was seeking savings of £200,000 from public toilets over the next two years, but this has now increased to £325,000.
In his report to the committee, roads and community works manager Cameron Kemp said: “The cost of operating a fully attended toilet is significantly higher than for an unattended toilet. It is therefore proposed that a review of fully attended toilets is undertaken as part of the next stage, with a view to reducing the number of fully attended toilets where this will not create operational difficulties.
“The removal of full-time attendants is unlikely to generate sufficient savings to achieve the overall savings target for 2012/13 and it will be necessary to seek options for further savings.”
He added that discussions had already taken place with Vacman, which carries out the cleaning at the council’s public toilets.
He said that “they have advised that there will be one-off costs relating to potential redundancies”.
Those proposed to close are North Kessock pier, Elgol, Staffin, Ardvasar, Kilmuir, Arisaig, Caol, Traigh Beach, Kinlochleven, Cannich, Foyers, Boat of Garten and Marine Road, Nairn.
The facilities at Cannich, Foyers and Traigh Beach were summer facilities only and, if the proposals are approved, they will not reopen.
It is also proposed to close either Castle Wynd or Mealmarket Close toilets in Inverness city centre. Officials propose to seek the views of the Inverness city committee on this issue.
Toilets at Lochcarron, Kinlochewe, Shieldaig, Avoch and Cromarty will close in the winter, while hours will be reduced at facilities on the A9 Inverness-Tore road at North Kessock, John O’Groats, Thurso, Wick, Tain and Alness.
However, affected communities may not be left entirely without a rest-stop as officials have said that there is funding available from the “Highland Comfort scheme” where the public can use toilets owned by community organisations or businesses in return for a contribution from the local authority.
