Toilet Charges set to change from 01 May

The Environment & Facilities Committee debated heavily at its meeting in March the current entry toilets for the majority of toilets under Town Council ownership. Members felt that the current charge was no longer sufficient to meet the increased running costs to maintain the facilities.

The 20p charge has been in place since 2014 when the Council transferred the toilets from Cornwall Council and has never been reviewed or changed. However, since that time costs of running the toilets has increased steadily and until now this has cost has been absorbed. Members deliberated the matter at length and have taken the difficult decision to increase the charge from 20p to 50p on all sites where there is an entry fee, which is anticipated to come into effect from 01 May.

To coincide with this the Committee will also be looking at phasing in Contactless machines where possible to make it more convenient for the public who have reported to us that they carry less cash around as change as opposed to cards. This does not mean that contactless will be the only method however it will be an option for those who choose to use it.

Councillor Andy Hannan, Chairman of the Environment & Facilities Committee commented “I would like to remind residents of the very heavy use the toilets suffer over the busy summer period and that it is only fair that the welcomed visitors to our town should bear some of the extremely high costs incurred in keeping these facilities open all year round”.