Pitlochry eco group hoping to turn former public toilet into info hub and workshop

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Pitlochry eco organisation is hoping to develop Burnside toilets into an info hub and Men’s Shed workshop which would also have access for visitors needing a comfort stop.The former public building, just off the town’s main road, is owned by Perth and Kinross Council and has been derelict for 15 years.People from Pitlochry and District Climate Cafe (P&DCC) got together to create Sprout, a local community eco organisation, and asked whether they could take over the building as a community hub.A closed meeting of PKC’s property sub-committee on August 7 will decide if Sprout is successful in the community asset transfer.Sprout – directed by Kaja Ekiert, Carol Aitken and Omungandr Melchizedek – started to look at the property in 2021 after investigating a number of properties around Pitlochry.They submitted an expression of interest with the view to progressing to a Community Asset Transfer.Last December, after receiving a number of commercial expressions of interest, the council placed it on the open market and, on April 20 this year, Sprout was able to submit a Community Asset Transfer for the property alongside two other commercial bids.Members of the Pitlochry group are confident that they can obtain the funding to convert the building.It will contain a badly-needed workshop space for the local Men’s Shed and support other groups needing repairs, access to a tool and equipment library, an information hub with space for meetings, and to further the work of P&DCC and other community groups such as Pitlochry Repair Cafe.“The focus will be on education and reducing, reusing and repurposing waste materials as well as other ways we can meet the climate challenge,” explained Carol.“It will also include a few additional