At last week’s cabinet meeting, all councillors were asked to consider a review of all 20 public toilets in the ownership of East Devon District Council, and a recommendation to seek a public consultation on the future of the toilets.
There was an in-depth debate, and it became clear that the issue is a thorny one, which has been side-stepped by previous administrations. The last time there was a review was in 2014, and little has happened since then.
Many public conveniences belonged to former councils. For example in Exmouth, there are a number which I recall as a child growing up here, and I was born in the 1940s. Apart from the replacement of sanitary ware and incoming appliances, the layouts have remained much the same. Having been transferred to EDDC, there has been little appetite to spend money on facilities which are already costly to run, particularly during the last year when extra cleansing has been necessary. Furthermore, district councils do not have a statutory obligation to provide them.
Some toilets have been closed temporarily, as resources were so stretched, so there was little alternative. That action has given a clear focus on the reality that they are in great demand, with potential users unable to access them having to urinate and defecate outside. Hardly conducive for attracting visitors to tourism areas.
Toilet blocks which were erected decades ago paid little, if any attention to disabled access and the needs of those users. Significant recognition has been given to the higher standards required in the 21st century, and this was acknowledged by last week’s cabinet meeting.
Considerable investment is being made in our coastal communities, not least in Exmouth, and the expectations of locals and visitors is for us to raise those standards even higher.
The cabinet therefore voted unanimously to support the recommendations for the matter to go out for consultation and for £3.15million to be set aside in next year’s budget for enhanced facilities, which could include new toilets, and offering interested parish or town councils and other groups to acquire existing ones, perhaps to combine into a joint asset. An interesting enterprise evolved in Seaton, where a public convenience on a site adjacent to a cafe/restaurant was offered to the new lessee of the business, of which EDDC is the landlord. The transaction took place, and the premises transformed to the benefit of both parties and to the community.
It is innovative ideas like that which EDDC are seeking input on from the forthcoming consultation. So please put forward your thoughts, perhaps before the publication of the notice through your town or parish councils, organisations, or elected councillors. We will welcome them as a forward thinking council. It is another stake in the ground towards making East Devon an even more outstanding area in which to live and to visit.