COUNCILLORS are still waiting to hear what sort of insurance payout Wellington Town Council will receive for the damage caused to the old Longforth Road public toilets which eventually saw the building bulldozed because of health and safety fears.

It was in December 2022 that a motorist drove into the toilet block and left it in a dangerous condition meaning the building had to be permanently closed, fenced off and ultimately knocked down by the council.

Twenty-one months later and the council is still awaiting news of an insurance claim – money which will be used in the planned rebuilding of the toilet block in Longforth Road.

The council – as reported last week – has agreed to go-ahead with replacing the old toilets with a modular building with the loo facilities up and running for the public to use in August 2025.

The project has been given an estimated cost of £238,205 and many people believe that this will come from the insurance claim for the damage caused by the motorist back in late 2022.

But deputy clerk Alice Kendall told councillors last week the claim was still going through the process, but warned the end result would be a long way short of what was needed to finance the new toilets.

“I think we will get about 30 per cent of the total cost from the insurance claim,” she told councillors at a special town council meeting held on August 27. “I don’t think we’ll get near the money needed to pay for this (the new toilets).”

Once the council knows how much it is getting from the insurance claim, it will then apply for a Public Works Loan Board loan to make up the deficit.

Councillors have become frustrated at the length of time discussions have been going on about the toilets.

The council was looking at an enhancement of the toilet block long before the car crash which many thought would speed up the process.

But as long ago as November last year councillors were saying the council was becoming to look a “laughing stock” over the ongoing saga.