Councillor brands toilet placed outside church as inconsiderate

A councillor was not impressed after contractors put a large toilet block on the road outside her local church for a week.

Wendy Fitzgerald said she felt it was an inconsiderate move, and that it should have gone elsewhere.

The toilet block outside St David’s Church, Penllergaer, was used by contractors who were working on nearby roads following movements of huge wind turbine components up to Mynydd y Gwair.

Cllr Fitzgerald said she spoke to the contractors last Wednesday and was advised the work would finish the following day.

But she said the job took longer than that, resulting in the toilet block staying in situ until May 14.

“I spoke to the church treasurer, and he said they could have had a funeral,” said the Penllergaer ward member. “It could have been very difficult.”

Cllr Fitzgerald said the lifting crane used to manouevre the toilet block had been left on the road after the toilet block was taken away.

“The crane is now taking up two parking bays,” she said.

A spokeswoman for Innogy Renewables UK, the company behind the 16-turbine Mynydd y Gwair wind farm, said the roadworks had been carried out in compliance with the relevant standards, and that contractors had worked during the evening to mitigate rush hour problems.

“Welfare facilities are required for staff and were located in the safest location, causing the least impact, avoiding being stationed outside an individual’s home,” she said.

“The works in question are now complete and this unit has been removed.”

The Reverend Doctor John Gillibrand, the vicar of St David’s Church, said church members had not raised the toilet block issue with him.