Four years after the town centre’s public toilets closed, the issue is stalled because of a series of legal and practical obstacles, councillors heard.
The same meeting also heard a complaint that the satellite shopping area of West Heath also had no public toilets.
Town councillors heard that attempts were being made to reopen the public toilets in Congleton town centre, and an update on the Market Street facilities was presented at Congleton Town Council’s annual meeting recently.
The toilets have been closed to the public since 2022, when they were still the responsibility of Cheshire East. They were devolved to the town council late last year.
At the 2025 annual meeting, residents said their number one town centre priority was the toilets.
At this year’s meeting, with the toilets still closed, Coun Russell Chadwick, chair of the Town Hall, Assets and Services Committee, referred to the ongoing closure as he commented on the town centre.
He said: “There has been a notable decline in condition and maintenance of the town centre.
“Congleton Town Council has stepped up, as residents were understandably frustrated at seeing the town neglected.”
Coun Chadwick added: “For the last seven years it had been my agenda to gain control and open the Market Street toilets.
“We successfully secured a transfer lease, but there was an unexpected issue as the lease documentation showed that it contained the toilets on the first floor, not the ground floor.
“Thankfully that issue has been resolved and we are now moving forward to redevelop the toilets.”
Coun Chadwick also highlighted “practical issues”, as the water and electricity for the toilets runs through the former Capitol Walk shopping precinct, not an area the town council controls.
He said the council wanted to ensure the facilities were within the town hall’s control to “prevent future complications”.
The centre, closed down after its previous owner failed a fire inspection, is currently for sale.
He said he had previously supported charging for the toilets, but his view had changed since he “got caught short and didn’t have 20p”.
Meanwhile, Brenda Proudlove of Mossley WI, who was at the meeting, said she worked at the East Cheshire Hospice Shop at West Heath shopping centre and raised concerns about the lack of toilets there, saying “many people come in and ask where the toilets are”.
Coun Chadwick said: “West Heath is a prime shopping area, which we also don’t have control of, but we will look into contacting the owners about this issue.”
We reported in a recent edition on our WI page how Mossley WI had discussed toilet provision in Congleton.
The group has been in talks with the council and said it would “continue to take this forward for the good of the community”.
The public toilets in Congleton Park are next on the town council’s list of services to be devolved. They are currently owned by Cheshire East Council but cleaned by the town council.
