New toilet block at The Meadows vandalised just weeks before opening to public
An Edinburgh toilet block has been targeted by vandals – weeks before it was due to open to the public.
The new public toilets at the Meadows were set to open this month and are one of three popular parks to get new facilities this summer.
But in recent days the toilet block has been vandalised. One resident told the Evening News the incident happened over the weekend. They said: “I expected this to happen, but I thought it would happen a few days after it opened – not while the fences are still up.”
The new toilet facilities, which will be free for the public to use, will include three family accessible cubicles, one accessible toilet, baby change facilities, and one Changing Places toilet.
The new buildings will also provide a small storage area for tools and water to help park officers and Friends groups look after the greenspaces, in addition to an outdoor water fountain, bike racks and benches.
It comes after the council invested more than £1 million to provide permanent and temporary toilet facilities around the city.
The local authority said the project is a ‘milestone for public amenities’ adding the facilities will ‘serve the community now and well into the future’. Leith Links and Inverleith Park will also be provided with similar faculties.
Culture and Communities Convener, Cllr Margaret Graham said: “I’m extremely disappointed to see that our brand-new facilities have been defaced by graffiti. There is of course a real spectrum of ‘graffiti’, from formal murals like Colinton Tunnel which have the consent and support of the community, through to offensive tags. The majority of the complaints we receive are about the latter. We’re arranging for it to be removed.”
Police Scotland has been approached for comment.