Public Toilets Offered To Town And Community Councils

Town and community councils on Anglesey are being offered the opportunity to run their local public toilet as budget cuts continue to bite. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The County Council is currently still responsible for maintaining 17 public toilets, but with their cleaning contract ending next year, it is actively looking for different ways of ensuring this service can be delivered in the future. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The County Council has already worked successfully with several town and community councils to transfer the responsibility of public toilet provision locally. It has now written to all relevant local councils offering them an opportunity to run public toilet(s) as a community resource for residents and visitors alike. Expressions of interest are being sought by July 1st 2016. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Anglesey’s Head of Highways, Waste Management and Property, Dewi Williams, explained, “We’re going to have to make many more tough decisions on funding priorities before our next budget and as there is no legal obligation on the County Council to run public toilets, they’re once again under the spotlight.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“No one wants to see public toilets close and, in recent years, we’ve worked hard with local councils and other partners to safeguard many of them. We hope that there will be significant interest in this new offer and that we’ll be able to work with communities to ensure that as many public toilets as possible stay open.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Councils agreeing to run public toilets in their area would take over responsibility from April 1st 2017. The County Council may also be able to provide an incentive to help them facilitate any transfer, as has been adopted at some other sites to date. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Interested councils will be sent an Information Pack providing information about the relevant public toilet(s) and an example of an Agreement/Lease which they can discuss at any forthcoming meetings. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

A Legal Agreement will then need to be completed and returned to the County Council by no later than 30th November 2016. If no responses are received or agreement cannot be reached then it’s likely that the public toilet(s) may have to close. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Waste Management portfolio holder, Councillor John Arwel Roberts, added, “We don’t want to reach a situation where we’ll have to close toilets and sincerely hope that we can find a solution by working with the community to provide a public toilet service and still meet our financial challenges.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​