Porthleven 'held to ransom' over toilet closures

12:00pm Monday 3rd September 2012 in Cornwall

Porthleven’s Cornwall councillor has accused the authority of holding the town council to ransom over the closure of public toilets.

Cllr Andrew Wallis, said that in his view Cornwall Council was “off-loading these facilities in a rather tactless way” after he claimed the authority had simply said ‘take them over or we will close them'.

He said: “It is pretty hard for a town or parish council to negotiate with both hands tied behind their backs while having to hop. I should say in fairness to Cornwall Council, they have agreed to give a two-year grant to Porthleven Town Council to ‘help’ with the running.

“This is the running costs of one toilet, plus 50 per cent of the cleaning cost. It should be noted that this is only for one toilet, as the other gets no grant. “They will hopefully refurbish the toilets to a standard that is agreeable to the town council, and not just Cornwall Council. There will be a yearly rent of £1 too.”

He added the choice of whether to take them both over or just one was a hard one for the town council, as if the town council takes them over residents would see an increase in the town council precept to fund them, while not seeing a reduction in the overall council. The other choice would see one shut for good.

Despite highlighting the importance of keeping both toilets open, and pointing out it should not be the town council who has to run them, he said that Cornwall Council’s response had been, ‘There is no money to pay for them’.

He also questioned the council’s argument that the toilets were not statutory, saying: “Car parking is not statutory, but you do not see a rush to off-load these.”

Mr Wallis said: “I wish it was simple just to call Cornwall Council’s bluff and see if they will close them. However, that would not achieve anything but seeing a toilet close. That will harm Porthleven for both residents and visitors.”

The toilet currently earmarked for closure is on Harbour Road. Mr Wallis said that the town council was now trying to get the best grant and refurbishment it could. Once this had been agreed in principle, the town council will be holding a mini-referendum on the proposals to give residents and business of Porthleven their say.

Comments(16)

Gill Zella Martin says...
7:48pm Fri 31 Aug 12

Hire a portable toilet for Harbour Road for the summer season and get people to sponsor it with advertising, ok so it will look awful but it will stop people using the sea as a toilet. What do the life guards do for toilet facilities ?

Alternatively just add the cost to the council tax, like Helston does for Flora day. Other places pay on council tax for toilet facilities, residents may not use them in Porthleven but surely some of those residents use public toilets elsewhere in the county.

If all else fails get a couple of inflatable ones and get the councillors to empty them at the Institute and get volunteers to inflate them each day, the toilets I mean, not the councillors.

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telstar1962 says...
9:57pm Fri 31 Aug 12

A nice new 24-hour Tesco-Extra, with free toilets and car parking. Problem solved.

Rear of Harbour Head ?

We have an important Fellow who is an expert to do with Planning etc.He may even have time to draw up the plans lol

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Gill Zella Martin says...
1:19pm Mon 3 Sep 12

Lol

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THORQUIP says...
11:30am Wed 5 Sep 12

Why don't we just put up a big sign on the Tamar Bridge saying "Visitors Not Welcome". Visiting Kernow is becoming a very negative experience all round, and things like this just help to sully the reputation of the Duchy. The list of negative aspects is becoming longer each day. Soon they will be staying away in their droves.

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Zella says...
2:03pm Wed 5 Sep 12

Instead of 'surfers against sewage' it will soon be 'sewage for surfers' I can't see beach users during the season walking all the way back to Shute Lane every time they want the toilet. If they close the Harbour Road toilets they may as well sell off the building for a nice little bungalow overlooking the winter waves, and use the proceeds to finance the running of Shute Lane toilets.

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meerkats says...
3:10pm Wed 5 Sep 12

maybe theres a business opportunity for someone, . dial a loo ,run like a taxi service but used solely for people to be taken to the nearest one !!.

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Gill Zella Martin says...
4:22pm Wed 5 Sep 12

Now that's a good idea meerkats. My previous post has come up under Zella for some reason, strange seeing as I closed the e-mail account relevant to that user name a while ago.

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THORQUIP says...
5:22pm Wed 5 Sep 12

At my age the need comes on sudden and when I gotta go, I gotta go. Dial-a-bucket would be a good idea though - so long as they were quick.

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Gill Zella Martin says...
5:55pm Wed 5 Sep 12

If the council does cause the closure of toilets by trying to pass the responsibility onto the town councils, then one has to wonder how much it will cost them for a cleaning bill, to clean residential areas that could become infested by rats due to people going to the toilet where ever they need to.

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THORQUIP says...
5:57pm Wed 5 Sep 12

Keep it clean - do it in the harbour! Clear below me hearties!

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meerkats says...
6:10pm Wed 5 Sep 12

the council will probably issue doggie bags for humans and a piece of loo roll.

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Gill Zella Martin says...
6:53pm Wed 5 Sep 12

Yes but will they have enough poo bins.

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Gill Zella Martin says...
7:02pm Wed 5 Sep 12

They could install a turnstile type barrier into the Shute Late ones after building a bit of an extension on the front, don't worry about planning permission no one else seems to, then charge for entry, so that they think they are making money, even though in reality most people would climb over or crawl under it. If they think they are making money then they would have a reason to keep them open, because Cornwall Council want to keep the car-parks because they think they will make money, when in fact they wont, because tourism will drop. Who is going to come back to a holiday destination where there are no toilets near the beach. I am still wondering what the lifeguards will do for toilet facilities.

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THORQUIP says...
7:23pm Wed 5 Sep 12

There's nice little earner to be had prosecuting and fining people for "unrinating in an improper place". This law is still used by lots of authorities even though they do not provide proper facilities. Is this really the 21st century?

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Gill Zella Martin says...
8:20pm Wed 5 Sep 12

Well everyone will have to say they are pregnant then because then they can't fine them, may be a little difficult convincing them though if you happen to be male.

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Gill Zella Martin says...
8:26pm Wed 5 Sep 12

They could run a scheme like those ones advertised like 'sponsor a dog' or 'sponsor a tiger' etc, Porthleven town council could have 'sponsor a toilet' and the local councillor could send you pictures of your toilet and regular updates on cleaning and a nice soft cuddly toilet roll to remind you of your toilet.

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