Fingal wastes more money…
IT WAS quite literally money flushed down the toilet.
A council admitted yesterday it spent 250,000 storing an unused superloo which was mothballed after just one day.
And because it originally signed a 20-year deal with the toilets owners, Fingal County Council was forced to pay 25,000 a year for 10 years to store it.
Finally, this year, the council was freed of its obligations. A spokeswoman for Fingal County Council said last night: I can confirm that in 1999 Fingal County Council entered an agreement with JC Decaux to lease a Universal Superloo as an addition to existing public toilet facilities in the county.
Regrettably, when the unit was installed in Swords, objections were made locally and the facility had to be withdrawn.
Efforts were made over subsequent years to find a suitable location for the facility elsewhere in the county, but despite public consultation the council failed to get local agreement at any of the proposed sites.
The original contract was for 17,000 a year to lease and maintain the unit. But because the fees were inflation indexed, the rate jumped to approximately 30,000 a year.
The council recently terminated its contract with JC Decaux so that it would not be on the hook for another 10 years but only after spending 25,000 a year of taxpayers money to honour the original deal.
Officials from JC Decaux could not be reached for comment last night.
Local residents had objected to the toilet for a variety of reasons, including its spaceshiplike appearance.