A LONG-RUNNING campaign calling for toilets at Chepstow bus station has moved a step further.

Chepstow Town Council has earmarked reserves of £26,500 to provide a loo for shoppers and bus users, while Monmouthshire council has £14,028 set aside towards the cost.

Councillors have looked at three options to lease a building to house the toilet which were; to use a shop unit on Thomas Street Arcade which has potential for waiting room facilities, the Rainbow Café, which is currently closed, or a vacant residential one-bedroom flat immediately opposite the Bus Station at 11 Thomas Street.

At its monthly meeting last week, the chamber agreed that the best option is to lease the flat from January for £4,740 per year and carry out extensive alterations to turn it into a public loo that will open between 8am and 7.30pm, with times varying in the winter.

Planning permission to install automatic toilets at the bus station for bus users was granted five years ago but was held up because of difficulties in acquiring the land next to the Co-operative Store.

The public toilet in nearby Bulwark was closed in 2011 as part of a review of 16 of the county’s toilets to save more than £180,000 a year.

A review was carried out by a working group amid concerns about the condition and cost of the toilets and resulted in the closure of six toilets in April after the town and community council’s chose not to adopt them. The savings were used to upgrade its remaining toilets.

A spokeswoman for Chepstow Town council confirmed that an architect has been instructed to draw up detailed plans for the scheme before a planning application is submitted to Monmouthshire Council.