New accessible toilet facilities open in Macclesfield Town Centre

New toilet facilities opened in Macclesfield town centre this week, following a collaboration between Macclesfield Town Council and Cheshire East Council.

Macclesfield Town Council committed £100,000 to the project and worked with Cheshire East Council to completely upgrade the existing traders toilets in the Indoor Market so that they could be made accessible to the public.

The facility includes a brand-new Changing Places Toilet, a new unisex toilet/baby changing facility, as well as male and female toilets for public use.   Over 14.6 million people across the UK are disabled and of those 250,000+ require a Changing Places Toilet. Changing Places Toilets (CPTs) include equipment such as hoists, changing benches and privacy screens to support those who need additional help, and for Macclesfield to now have one of these toilets

The opening of the toilets, will be welcome news for shopper and visitors to the town, particularly in the run up to the festive period.  It is worth noting that 72% of disabled people will avoid visiting a location due to a lack of suitably accessible toilet facilities.

Local mum Fiona Walton, whose son Charlie lives with additional needs, is thrilled at this new addition to the town centre.   “Having an official Changing Places toilet right in the heart of the town centre will mean the world to us and other families alike that are affected with special and additional needs. There will be no more disappointment of opening the door to a ‘disabled’ toilet only to find a standard toilet with a few grab rails. No more straining and risking our own bodies lifting someone that cannot get up for themselves. No more lying our child on a toilet floor. No more cutting our outings short as there are insufficient facilities. Thank you so much, you have made a lot of peoples lives a lot easier.”

Another mum who has two disabled daughters wrote to the Town Council and said “I’m really pleased we now have these facilities, and in such a central location, too – thank you to all involved in providing them.”

Councillor Fiona Wilson, Macclesfield Town Council’s Town Centre and Regeneration Champion, said “It was very important to the Town Council that the new public toilets would be accessible to all. Mum Fiona Walton came to full Council and spoke passionately about the need for a Changing Places toilet and the lack of accessible play equipment in the parks. We listened and are thrilled that Fiona’s son Charlie, now has toilet facilities available to use in the Town Centre and that there are now 3 accessible roundabouts in West park, South park and Victoria park plus an accessible see saw in South park. Many families will benefit from these facilities making life better.  Thank you to Cheshire East Council and Ansa, for all their work and input.”

The opening hours of the toilets will match those of the Indoor Market, Monday-Saturday, 9am – 5pm.  On Sundays St Michael’s church toilets remain open to the public, thanks to funding from Macclesfield Town Council.