But the celebrations in Norwich have now become bogged down in a spat between rival political opponents after a Labour candidate was accused of "shameless grifting" for claiming credit for the work.

The row started after Lisa Alston, Labour candidate for Town Close, praised work beginning to restore the Jenny Lind park toilets, which had been shut for a number of years.

She says she has been campaigning for the upgrade for the last two years, although she has not been a councillor.

Lisa Alston, who is hoping to stand as a candidate for Labour for Town Close in the upcoming May elections (Image: Beth Moseley)

But her comments have upset two rival city councillors in the ward who say they were instrumental in securing the £100,000 investment in the toilets as part of a budget amendment last year.

The councillors both left Labour en masse in 2023 in protest at the party's refusal to back a ceasefire in Gaza. One, Karen Davis, now sits as an independent, while the other, Cate Oliver, is now a Green.

Ms Davis proposed the amendment, which was supported by Ms Oliver, relating to the toilet in February 2025, when it was accepted by Labour.

Cate Oliver, Green councillor for Town Close (Image: Norwich City Council)

Ms Oliver said: "I feel a sense of vicarious embarrassment when I see Ms Alston taking credit for yet another Town Close independent and Green achievement.

"You might say, well, it is just politics, but as a candidate, Ms Alston is not held to account the same way elected members are.

"Giving the public the impression she has any leverage of her own directs residents away from approaching their actual councillors, who not only know how to get things done but have a track record of doing so."

Emma Corlett, independent county councillor for Town Close (Image: Supplied)

Emma Corlett, a former Labour Town Close county councillor, who quit the party at the same time as Ms Davis and Ms Oliver and now sits as an independent, added: "Absolutely shameless grifting yet again by the Labour candidate.

"The only reason the toilets are being rebuilt is thanks to the very specific budget amendment put in by Cllrs Karen Davis and Cate Oliver in February 2025.

"That, and that alone, has secured this work.

"This is a pattern of behaviour that is both tedious and desperate from a party who are plummeting in the polls."

Work has begun to improve the Jenny Lind toilets (Image: Denise Bradley)

However, Ms Alston has dismissed the criticism, arguing it is inevitable that there will be crossover on the issues Town Close political campaigners champion.

She said: "I have been working in the community for the past two years. Improving the Jenny Lind toilets has been one of Town Close Labour's causes in our campaign literature since 2023.

"Ms Davis and Ms Oliver's amendment certainly made a difference. But we are all working for a common aim and all pushed for this. There is bound to be a crossover.

"But it is difficult to work together when someone is trying to discredit the contribution you made during the process.

"It is all just politics. There is, after all, an election being fought."

Following the government's announcement last week that elections will go ahead in May, politicians in the city and county will begin ramping up their campaigning.

At City Hall, a third of its councillors are up for re-election, including Ms Oliver's Town Close seat.

Mike Stonard, the Labour leader of the council, had asked the government to cancel the vote, but ministers later reversed their decision and said it should go ahead.

The polls will also open for all of Norfolk County Council's 84 divisions.

Emma Corlett has already said she will be standing down from her county council Town Close division in May.

Maxine Webb, an independent county councillor for Wensum division, intends to stand for the Greens in Town Close.

© Eastern Daily Press