THE public toilets next to Tavistock Tennis Club are to be demolished after the club?s chairman wrote to town councillors saying vandals had been using them for smoking cannabis and drinking.
In his letter, David Isaac blamed the largely redundant gents? toilet block for attracting youngsters responsible for a recent spate of vandalism at the club.
He wrote: ?The state of these toilets has been a disgrace for many years, but now they are even worse with graffiti, no lights, dirty and no toilet paper or soap. I imagine they must be a serious embarrassment to Tavistock Town Council.
?Because your toilets are encouraging the wrong type of youngsters to our vicinity, and as they are rarely used and your council has the upkeep, on behalf of the tennis club I make a strong request that they be demolished.?
At a meeting of the properties committee last week, councillors discussed the idea of decommissioning the block and turning it into a works department store to replace a hut which burned down last year.
Cllr Ted Sherrell said: ?Those toilets are in a shocking state and it makes sense to convert them into stores.?
Col Roger Howard, town clerk, agreed. ?We used a wooden shed last year but we haven?t got one now so we could leave the building there for storage purposes,? he said.
But Cllr Norma Woodcock pointed out the potential difficulty of getting equipment into the building because of its awkward position alongside the tennis courts.
She said: ?The door is actually in an extremely inconvenient place, because there?s barely more than a few inches separating it from the fencing around the tennis courts. You would never be able to get a wheelbarrow in there.?
Cllr Woodcock said the toilet block was an eyesore and demolishing it would improve the surroundings.
She said: ?When I look at those beautiful courts with the extended facilities I think that building detracts from some very nice leisure facilities.
?I think it would enhance the view to demolish it so it?s just the clubhouse and the tennis courts, but if it would be very valuable to refurbish it for storage, then that?s fine.?