A church in Blackpool has become embroiled in a dispute over its new gender-neutral toilets after neighbours complained they could hear people urinating through their wall.
St Paul’s North Shore church submitted plans to replace its existing lavatories with unisex facilities, prompting objections from residents living next door.
The row has since led to intervention from the Diocese of Blackburn, which has ordered the church to stop this “nuisance”.
The dispute emerged after the church applied to modernise its outdated toilet facilities in September last year, with neighbours claiming the sounds of use could clearly be heard in their living room.
The Rev Deborah Prest and churchwardens sought permission to replace the existing facilities which were “long past their best”
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The Rev Deborah Prest and churchwardens sought permission to replace the existing facilities which were “long past their best” and install new office space.
The current toilets, dating from the mid-20th century, had fallen into significant disrepair, with “tiles falling off the ceilings and the plaster around the windows falling out”.
The application was submitted to modernise the unlisted building’s facilities, which had been in the same location for nearly 60 years.
The church noted that in all that time, they had never received complaints about noise from the toilets until now.
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A couple living next door to the church detailed how the existing toilet facilities were already causing significant disruption to their home life.
“The toilet cubicles adjoining my living room produce a loud banging noise that echoes and vibrates through my property when the cubicles are used,” one neighbour wrote.
The residents reported that the noise issues were not limited to door slamming, explaining: “We can clearly hear individuals urinating,” which they described as “very unpleasant”.
The situation had become so problematic that the neighbours had stopped using their living room entirely.
They expressed concern that converting the facilities to unisex toilets would “only exacerbate the issues we are currently experiencing” due to increased usage (Stock)
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They expressed concern that converting the facilities to unisex toilets would “only exacerbate the issues we are currently experiencing” due to increased usage.
David Hodge KC, chancellor of the diocese’s consistory court, approved the plans, although he ordered the church to find a solution to the noise issues.
He ruled that the church could either relocate the toilets away from the shared wall or install soundproofing measures.
“I will grant the faculty sought, but with permission for the petitioners to reverse the locations of the proposed unisex toilets and the new office,” Hodge wrote in his ruling.
He suggested that placing the new office space against the party wall, rather than the toilets, could resolve the neighbours’ concerns.
Hodge added that if relocation was not practical, “then the parish should seek to introduce acoustic insulation to the party wall between the church building and the objectors’ home”.