Friday June 5th 2026
East Lothian Council headquarters
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
A bid to provide a busy town library with public toilets using community funds is being made by East Lothian Council.
Councillors will be asked to approve a grant of £50,000 towards new loos at Musselburgh Library from the town’s Common Good Fund next week.
The move comes as it is revealed customers at the library have, in the past, being directed to use facilities at the Brunton Hall, 400 feet away from the library.
However the Brunton is facing demolition after the discovery of dangerous Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in the building.
A report to the council’s Common Good Funds committee which oversees the county’s town funds, asks for the grant to go towards the estimated £125,000 total cost of creating four new public toilets in the library.
It states: “Musselburgh Library has two of the busiest bookbug sessions in the county. It is also offered as a “Warm Space” in winter, for those struggling with heating bills.
“Requiring very young or elderly visitors to walk to the Brunton Hall has been far from ideal. With the imminent closure of the Brunton Hall, this situation will become much worse.
“Although work is ongoing, it is likely to be several years until a new operational Musselburgh Hub is in place.
“Officers have assessed that four toilets, which include one larger toilet for the disabled, can be put into the existing footprint of the building at a cost of approximately £125,000.
“Any work on improving the lack of available toilets on site will have a significant benefit for public users now and would be of benefit also for any alternative community / stakeholder user of the building in the future.”
Common Good Funds in Scotland originated in the 15th century and are the assets and income of some former Burghs. They represent a substantial portfolio of land, property and investments and by law continue to exist for the common good of the inhabitants of the former Burghs to which they relate.
East Lothian Council administers the assets of four common good funds within its boundaries. These are Dunbar, Haddington, Musselburgh and North Berwick.
Musselburgh has by far the biggest fund and is worth an estimated £9million.
The application for funding will go before committee next week.
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