HEATH park toilets have been branded \u201cappalling\u201d by visitors due to a lack of disabled access and intermittent opening hours that have forced people to wee outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Christine Pinnell who uses a mobility scooter due to a disability said that her disabled toilet key doesn\u2019t work at the toilets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said: \u201cI have to make absolutely sure that I\u2019m prepared to come over here because I know there\u2019s no toilets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s appalling. It\u2019s not disabled friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mrs Pinnell and her husband described having to warn their grandchildren, aged seven and nine, to go to the toilet before they leave the house because there would be no facilities when they arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\u2019re too old to want to go behind a bush now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ben and Barney, who didn’t want to give their last names, have been using the tennis courts for two years and travel from Splott and Fairwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ben told The Cardiffian<\/em>: \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t have people weeing in public, it would be better to have a toilet opened. You never know who could walk round the corner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Heath Park toilets and kiosk were managed by a voluntary group but after they struggled through COVID the site was closed and it has not been permanently re-opened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verity Davies, a local resident who walks her dog two to three times a day, said: \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful park and you can\u2019t enjoy it to its full extent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re so used to it being closed you don\u2019t expect it to be open.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gillian Jack, who also regularly walks her dog in the park, echoed this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have grandchildren who came over and it was locked and I had to go all the way home and it spoilt the whole afternoon. It does have an impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve been coming to the park for years and there\u2019s never been any facility and it\u2019s so random as to whether the toilets will be open or not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Coun Julia Sangani said the council was \u201clooking into local partnerships and businesses\u201d but there were no plans to have the kiosk and toilets opened permanently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n John Sadler, a Heath resident, said he had asked about taking over the kiosk and opening a caf\u00e9 but was told he would have to manage the tennis courts and golf course (now closed) and that would be too much of a commitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Coun Mike Ash-Edwards said there were plans to open the toilets from Monday, February 27 for limited hours, overseen by park managers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe want to see a future where people provide refreshments but we need someone to take it on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s part of wanting to see Heath Park with good and maintained facilities and that is what we\u2019re working towards.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The facilities and kiosk have been closed on and off for years leaving disabled residents unable to enjoy the green space<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":897,"featured_media":75126,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[417,3],"tags":[1291,52,227,905,542,8391,1311],"coauthors":[8088],"class_list":["post-75116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heath","category-news","tag-cardiff-2","tag-cardiff-council","tag-community","tag-disabled-access","tag-heath-park","tag-kiosk","tag-public-toilets"],"yoast_head":"\n