THE eco-toilets that were due to be installed in the King George V playing field on several dates this year, are now scheduled to open in February 2023.
Melksham will be one of the first places in the UK to install these eco-toilets, in what has been described by the town council as a ‘ground-breaking’ project. The eco-toilets use a new technology requiring no electricity or water, instead breaking down waste in a vault using worms, making them environmentally friendly and sustainable.
They are being manufactured by a Calne based company, Healthmatic, that design, build and manage public toilets. According to Healthmatic the waste can be used to spread on flower beds or gardens.
The town council announced early this year that the toilets were expected to be installed in mid-May; they were then expected in July but due to an ‘internal reorganisation’ at Healthmatic, the installation was delayed.
At the time, Healthmatic then agreed to give the town council a 15% discount reducing the cost of the toilets to £33,295 which Hugh Davies, the council’s head of operations, described as ‘better value’ and councillor Jon Hubbard said, “It’s always better when you come back with a lower cost!”
Following this delay, the town council said the toilets were then due to be installed at the end of November but now say the toilets are expected to be installed in February next year.
Head of operations at the Melksham Town Council Hugh Davies said, “Healthmatic have had several ambitious deadlines throughout the year that have not been met due to various issues their end with internal reorganisations and sourcing parts. They have let us know in advance that these dates would not be met so we then came up with a more realistic deadline of next February.
“I will be chasing them over the next couple of weeks to get confirmation of a date in February, as I know some manufacturing plants close down over Christmas and we are only two months away from February.”
Melksham Independent News contacted Healthmatic who said, “We are not aware of a delay. We are working to the agreed schedule of next February.”
Currently, there is no public toilet facility for the community to use at the King George V playing field, following closure of the Bath Road toilets that were infested with rats earlier this year, that Wiltshire Council is currently working to resolve, and the ongoing closure of the pavilion.
Melksham did get a chance to try out the eco friendly toilets during the River and Food Festival with Healthmatic providing Melksham Town Council with toilets to use temporarily, free of charge.