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09
Nov
North Yorkshire Council considers offloading public toilets
North Yorkshire Council has asked parish councils to consider taking over the running of public toilets.
The cash-strapped council operates more toilets than any other local authority in England and Wales. It is estimated between one and two million people use the facilities each year.
It currently spends £1.2 million a year on toilets, and recoups £213,000 on entry fees from those public conveniences that charge for entry.
But public toilets aren't classed as an essential council service, and it has written to parish councils saying:
The provision of public conveniences is a non-statutory service and as part of ongoing service review/development, North Yorkshire Council is inviting parish councils to consider taking some role or responsibility for public conveniences in their areas. The options to do this are varied and dependent on the individual public conveniences concerned and the views of each parish council.
Public toilets in Ripon's Minster Gardens.
The Stray Ferret asked the council for further details, including how parish councils would be expected to pay for the cost of providing the service and whether it would consider closing any toilets if they could not be offloaded.
Karl Battersby, the council’s corporate director for environment, told the Stray Ferret it recognised how valued toilets are by residents and visitors.
He added:
We will always look to support any organisation that takes on facilities, and this could potentially be with funding from ourselves or by other means. This localised ownership and delivery, which has been successful in areas across the county, may help with the financial pressures we face and safeguard their provision for communities.
We will continue to support any parishes keen to explore how they can operate these facilities at a more local level.
Knaresborough toilets 'constantly in need of repair'
There are already widespread concerns about the state of public toilets in the Harrogate district, and how frequently they are closed. The Stray Ferret reported on the issue in February. You can read that article here.
A resident and councillor in Knaresborough, which has public toilets at Waterside, Castle Yard, York Place Car Park, Conyngham Hall Car Park and the bus station, agreed that any outcome needed to lead to better public toilets.
Angela Mountain, who lives on Waterside and is a member of Waterside Residents' Association, said the Waterside toilets were “constantly in need of repair and often leak onto the road outside”, which undermined the residents’ association’s attempts to improve the area.
She added:
It is imperative that the public toilets on Waterside are refurbished and maintained. Waterside has thousands of tourists every year who need this service. On occasions when the toilets have been closed, we have had people relieving themselves alongside and behind our properties.
The toilets on Waterside and at the entrance of Conyngham Hall car park are an absolute necessity for the public and to safeguard residents. I hope the council see the sense in retaining and improving this much needed service.
Cllr Matt Walker, a Liberal Democrat who represents Knaresborough West on North Yorkshire Council, said the town’s toilets were “not of the standard they should be”.
He did not discount the idea of parish councils taking them over but said numerous issues, including security, the needs of disabled people and the problem of people using toilets to take drugs, as well as funding, had to be considered first. "It's all in the detail," he added.
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