GROUNDWORKS for the installation of a replacement town centre public toilet block in Wellington will start on Monday (February 9), more than three years after it was damaged beyond repair.

Contractors BVLR are expected to take the next four weeks to lay new drainage and utility connections.

The work will be carried out between 8.30 am and 4.30 pm on Monday to Friday only to reduce any disruption for nearby residents, and Longforth Road will not need to be closed during it.

The contractors will use part of the nearby coach park for a welfare unit, skip facility, and material storage.

Coaches will still be able to use the area to pick up and drop off passengers.

The work should have started on January 26 but was delayed because of weather warnings ahead of Storm Chandra.

Town council chief executive Dave Farrow said the new toilets, which will be a modular building, should be in place by the middle of April with a handover to the council planned for the first week of May.

The Longforth Road toilets were damaged when a car crashed into the front of it a few days before Christmas, 2022.

The collision brought down supporting pillars and left the front of the building liable to collapse.

Town councillors eventually agreed to demolish the block to give themselves a clean slate when considering replacement plans.

The estimated cost of a modular toilet block, which was cheaper than a traditional brick built building, was put at nearly £240,000.

Councillors initially decided to take a long-term loan over 20 years from the Public Works Loan Board to cover most of the cost.

But a combination of receiving a lower tender which reduced the overall cost and the council underspending some of its budget meant they were able to fund it without the loan.