Tyndrum Needs a Changing Places Toilet
Changing Places are specialised washrooms kitted out for those that need to be hoisted onto the toilet. Currently, there’s a shortage of these crucial facilities in the West Scotland the area bigger than the size of Wales (see the map below).
Changing Places Toilet facilities are crucial for severely disabled people and their families to enable them to travel about rural Scotland comfortably and with dignity.
We understand the challenges severely disabled people face, especially concerning the difficulties of travelling, first hand and it's also one of the key reasons why we started a charity called The Tyndrum Infrastructure Group (TIG, SC051750) in 2022 with the primary objective of building a CPT for Tyndrum.
Why Tyndrum?
Geographically, Tyndrum is a strategic hub with millions of vehicles passing through every year.
At a workshop in 2021 run by Calmac and Pamis (a Scottish charity that works solely with people with profound and multiple learning disabilities and their families for a better life.) it was decided that Tyndrum was the number 1 priority for a CPT facility in Scotland.
Location Agreed, Planning Permission Obtained, Funds Allocated, Building Warrant Granted, Contractor Selected, We are Ready to build!
Although our journey began 8 years ago, the Tyndrum Infrastructure Group (TIG) was officially constituted only in 2022.
In 2021, we were fortunate enough to secure a grant that enabled us to carry out a Feasibility Study. We are most grateful to the Strathfillan Community Development Trust who whole-heartedly supported us.
More recently, we achieved a major breakthrough in our efforts when we reached an in-principle agreement with The Green Welly Stop to use their vacant site adjacent to their complex as the location for a new CPT.
We then completed a Development Feasibility Study on the proposed site which has yielded a costed design report and a draft legal agreement.
In November 2023, we obtained a planning permission and in 2024 (after month's of campaigning) we secured funding from the Scottish Government and are finally ready to start building!
Challenge 1
Finding a Suitable Site
The initial feasibility study looked at 8 specific sites in and around Tyndrum, but none of them were suitable.
The feasibility study included a public consultation. 212 people replied to the consultation with 95% supporting a CPT in Tyndrum as a priority location.
Despite the support, it looked like the project was impossible due to the lack of a suitable site, largely because there is no public land in Tyndrum and there’s a desperate shortage of every type of infrastructure.
At the end of 2022, Ed Robertson, a Partner at The Green Welly Stop approached us with a potential site he had identified on a piece of ‘unused space’ owned by the company.
And that's how we found our site.
Challenge 2 - Funding
Parliamentary Petition
We wanted to unlock the £10m funding pot pledged in the SNP's 2021 election manifesto, which is why we launched a parliamentary petition to raise this issue with the Scottish Government. This petition has been discussed but funds have never been released.
We started fundraising but without the Government's support, we could not raise enough funds necessary to build the facility.
To date, this fund has not opened and there are no details about when it will open and what criteria will be used for awarding funds to projects.
Challenge 3
Inflation
Then in 2024 we were awarded a grant of £280K by the UK Government. This sum should have been enough to build the entire CPT but due to inflation and design development after the inclusion of the Structural Engineers input, the costs rose by a further £50K!
Time to Build
In November 2023, we obtained a planning permission and after securing funding in 2024, we obtained a building warrant, found a contractor and started to build in October.
Building the Changing Places Toilet in our beautiful village of Tyndrum will have an immense benefit for disabled individuals and their families. These facilities will be located at The Green Welly Stop and will enable many people to enjoy the beauty of the Scottish Highlands.
Lessons Learned
1. Lack of CPT Awareness
Scotland prides itself in being an inclusive and accessible country. However, how can we make this claim if a great number of individuals do not have access to appropriate toilet facilities when travelling.
Furthermore, there is a lack of knowledge about the changing places facilities and what they are for. Unless you've been in a situation where you or somebody closest to you needs it, it's unlikely you know of their existence. This needs to be addressed with education, education, education.
2. Land Acquisition for Communities
Accessing land for community development and infrastructure improvements is a challenging and sometimes very complex problem that can take years to overcome. For example, we have been trying to establish a CPT in Tyndrum for over 6 years.
Land is often in the hands of only a few people who tend to be wealthy. If they don't want to engage or help the community, this can present a potential showstopper.
The process for acquiring land for rural community development for infrastructure improvement needs to be simplified. Additionally, there needs to be more willingness from authorities to use Compulsory Purchase Orders and other levers to help groups like ours.
3.Obsolete CPT Specification
There is no formal mechanism for review and updating the CPT specification. With wheelchairs getting bigger and changes in social norms, there needs to be a to be a process to deal with this.
There are flaws in the CPT specification that need to be addressed such as the inadequacy of the Radar security key system.
4. Campaigning - Effort Wasted
The huge effort and time spent pressing the Scottish Government to step up to their 2021 manifesto pledge and make good on the promised £10M for CPTs in Scotland has proved to be a fruitless waste of time and has yielded nothing.
5.VAT
VAT should not be levied on small charities. It makes no sense that for everything the charity raises, a 20% VAT apply on everything bought / built.
