As a tourist town and busy town centre, public toilets are one of the essentials anyone would expect to find in Ilkley while walking, shopping, or visiting local attractions.

Although the central car park toilets, as well as those by the riverside, have escaped the axe of Bradford Council, district decision-makers should be made aware that even these facilities were not seen as enough by many people.

Calls for public toilets to be refurbished and reopened under the Kings Hall, plus a sign in the station ticket office indicating there are no public toilets in the station, demonstrates that Ilkley could probably do with more, not fewer toilet facilities. Losing the White Wells toilets, if no way of saving them is found, will be quite a blow for tourism on Ilkley Moor in particular.

There has already been debate in the past asking why this world-renowned landmark does not have its own visitor centre. There was even a suggestion at one time that a former filter station could be turned into one, or that original plans for a cafe at the Cow and Calf Rocks would feature a space which could be used for visitor information. So taking away one of the very few toilets handy for walkers and daytrippers on the moor will detract from the moor’s appeal as a visitor destination.

It has been known for a long time that it is not a statutory duty of Bradford Council to provide public toilets, and yet it will come as a shock to many to think the Council would consider taking away something that provides a valuable service, and is surely much used.