Caerphilly Taxi Drivers’ Association has secured £5,000 from Caerphilly Town Council to re-open the toilets on Station Terrace.
The town council voted unanimously to fund the project in a meeting on Monday, June 17.
The association took over the maintenance of the toilets in April, after Caerphilly County Borough Council closed all public toilets in the borough in order to make cutbacks.
The association had been trying to raise the money themselves to install coin mechanisms and lower the entry charge from 50p to 20p.
George Edwards, who is the association’s vice-chair and treasurer, said: “First I would like to say a big thank you for the continued support shown to us from Caerphilly Observer, while we have been working with Caerphilly County Borough Council and the Caerphilly Town Council to reopen the Toilets.
“It has been a long process of tireless work behind the scenes and finally on June 17, it was agreed unanimously by the Town Council to support the project and to raise the capital of £5,000.
“We the Association are very grateful for all parties who have contributed to the success of re opening the toilets.”
Mr Edwards added: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank personally Cllr Nigel George, Cllr Shayne Cook, Cllr Jamie Pritchard, Cllr Colin Elsbury, Cllr Phil Bevan and Cllr James Fussell, as well as Brodie Thomson-Payne and Tim Broadhurst from the council’s Property Services team, Rob Hartshorn from the council’s Public Protection team, Richard Crane from the council’s legal team, town council clerk Phil Davy, Ian Young and Piers Dibben from Healthmatic UK and all other Town Councillors and members of Caerphilly County Borough Council involved.
“We look forward to providing a service once again to the Community and its Visitors for the foreseeable future.
“We would also like to thank the members of the Public who very kindly donated towards the project.
“We hope to have the facilities reopen by the first week of July 2019 with an entry charge of just 20p.
“We are very thankful to Caerphilly County Borough Council for allowing us to continue running the facilities.”
Plaid Cymru’s town council group leader, Cllr Colin Elsbury, said: “When the toilets were suddenly closed, Plaid Caerffili Town Facebook page was inundated with over 25,000 people viewing the page with hundreds of comments left.
“The taxi drivers must be recognised for the initiative and hard work they have shown to ensure that a basic facility for residents and visitors is again available.
“The aim was simple but the legal issues were complex, but after a number of meetings with the taxi drivers, the town council approved a financial package worth £5,000 which enabled the county council to purchase coin entry doors.
“The taxi drivers will run the toilets and pay for the day to running using revenue from the coin entry system. All being well they will re-open in weeks.”
He added: “If the county had engaged with us much earlier we may have been able to avoid this state of affairs.”
In a statement, Morgan Jones ward councillors Jamie Pritchard, Shayne Cook and Shelly Hodder said: “All credit needs to go to the Caerphilly Taxi Drivers Association for their efforts and input over the last few months. We’re glad to have won support from members of the town council to help fund the toilets after working constructively with the taxi association. We look forward to things progressing shortly and wish the association all the very best.”