Plan to charge for using loos takes a step forward
THE CONTROVERSIAL idea of charging people to use public toilets in Harborough has moved a step closer.
Cash-strapped Harborough Council is considering introducing a charge to use public loos in the Commons car park or at Welland Park which could net more than £38,000 a year to cover costs.
The idea was discussed by councillors at a scrutiny panel meeting on Thursday last week where they recommended to the council’s executive committee to press ahead with the plan.
Councillors said a feasibility study and a business case should be drawn up to look at charging. It comes on top of recent proposals to increase parking fees by 20p across the district.
Cllr Phillip King (Cons), chairman of the panel, said at the meeting that despite widespread reports last week that 20p could be the charged for using public toilets, this would depend on the business case and nothing had yet been decided.
It was also recommended that the executive investigates whether it can link up with businesses to offer more public toilets.
Cllr Jo Brodrick (Cons) said charging should be looked at alongside the possibility of using the profits to fund community toilet schemes where parish councils or businesses get involved with providing facilities in partnership with the council.
The panel also said there should not be a charge for disabled users if the toilets continued to be operated with a Radar key, the scheme which offers disabled people independent access to locked public toilets across the country.
Bringing in a charge was criticised by Cllr Barbara Johnson (Lib Dem) who said taxpayers are already paying over the odds for the toilets to be cleaned and maintained. The council is paying waste contractor Focsa £53,000 a year to clean the Commons loos and the report for last Thursday’s meeting showed the projected figure for the next financial year at more than £57,000.
Cllr Johnson told the meeting the figure was either “sloppy accounting or a waste of money”. She also criticised the thoroughness of a footfall survey looking into toilet usage as it only included a sample of two hours per day over the period of one week.
Matthew Bradford, head of environment and leisure service at the council, said the increased sum was due to an ‘inflation clause’ in the contract which takes into account changes in the Retail Price Index amongst other factors.
Cllr King pointed out that the Focsa integrated contract is saving £130,000 a year when compared to previous arrangements.
Other recommendations made by the panel:
4 Work with Great Bowden Parish Council over its plan to reopen the toilets at Great Bowden Recreation Ground during the summer months but which requires £7,000 of improvements to foul sewer drainage.
4 Demolish the closed toilet block in Orchard Road, Broughton Astley, which has become an “eyesore”.
4 Delay a decision on whether to complete a “mend and make-do” refurbishment (£15,000-£20,000) or completely revamp (£80,000) the Welland Park toilets until a report has been completed on the future of the park cafe which could be overhauled soon and which is connected to the exiting toilets. Cllr King said the toilets here had already been “condemned unfit for purpose twice” in recent years.
4 Investing £5,000-£10,000 to improve Little Bowden Recreation Ground toilets.
4 Deferring a decision on the St Mary’s Place toilets at the Market Hall until the wider report on the hall is completed.
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Weather for Harborough
Friday 18 May 2012
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Temperature: 8 C to 14 C
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Wind direction: North east
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rudders0007
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 09:46 AM£53k for cleaning the commons loos, who's having some sort of a laugh there! That will be 12k for the cleaner and 41k shared between the 2 clerks required to produce hisher work rota. This is what you get when authorities have bottomless pits of money available i,e, if the pot gets low they can legally just up the council tax and do you have a say, do you heck. Who in the private sector would have agreed a ridiculous some of money such as this for cleaning a loo, these people suffer from lack of experience in the real world syndrome. Focsa must be laughing all the way to the bank, why dont we keep the money within the local area's by employing local companies.
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