Stressed-out primary pupils should soon be able to breathe a sigh of relief when their school toilets get a much-needed and log-awaited upgrade.
A building warrant has been obtained that will allow for a renovation of the ageing bogs at Westfield Primary School in Cumbernauld.
The toilets at the school in Westfield Drive are in serious need of renovation. They have been earmarked for a complete overhaul for some time and work could soon commence.
The news will come as a relief to pupils and parents – some of whom claimed that children refuse to use the toilets due to their poor condition.
Councillor Alan Masterton has been following the progress of the process and claims that the state of the facilities has made some children anxious about using them. He provided an update to parents and carers of children at the school recently on social media.
The SNP councillor for the Cumbernauld North ward, said: “For a number of years now I have been following up with the education department in North Lanarkshire Council (NLC) the poor quality of the pupil toilets in Westfield Primary School, which as far as I am aware have not had a significant upgrade since the school was first opened more than 40 years ago.
“I know that the current condition of the toilets causes anxiety for some pupils and is not a particularly pleasant space within the school. NLC has promised on a number of occasions that the toilet facilities would be upgraded without much progress.
"However, I have been following this up again recently with the council and I have been told that the pupil toilet upgrade is included within the council’s current capital programme and that a building warrant has actually just been obtained to allow the project to proceed.”
One parent reacted to the news by saying her child won’t use the toilets in their current state.
Another parent said: “Fantastic news. This will be very welcome news for the children, some will not even use the toilets. Thank you for the update and your work in following it up.”
A technical and design team at NLC are currently preparing a tender to be issued, and following its award the programme of works will be shared with the school community.
Councillor Masterton added: “Given that a building warrant for this project has now been obtained and the tender will soon be issued then I am hopeful that this project should be finally progressing in the near future.”
A council spokesman confirmed the authority was treating this matter "as a priority," with work is expected to start soon.
He added: "There have been issues with procuring the works but we are doing all we can to overcome this.
"We will inform parents directly with the latest developments.”
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