Fees plan as public loo review gets under way

Public conveniences cost North Yorkshire Council about £1.2m a year to run

Some public toilets in North Yorkshire could be closed, while others could be upgraded as part of a review of the county's conveniences.

Fees could also be introduced for toilets that are currently free to use as part of changes being considered by North Yorkshire Council.

The authority has launched the review after it took control of dozens of conveniences from the former borough and district councils which were merged as part of a major reorganisation of local government in the county in 2023.

The council is now responsible for more than 90 public toilets, which is more than any other authority in the country, according to officials.

The facilities currently cost about £1.2m a year to run, despite their provision not being a statutory requirement for the authority.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the new service plan being drawn up would dictate how the authority ran the services in the next decade.

A draft version sent out to parish and town councils for consultation said the authority wanted to make all North Yorkshire Council-operated toilets of "good" or "excellent" standard by 2035.

At present, officers have classified only 21 sites as excellent, with 49 graded as good, while 22 have been deemed "poor" or "unacceptable".

Of the council-operated public toilets, 63 are currently free to use.

Entry fees to other toilets, which range from 20p to 40p, bring in £213,000 a year to North Yorkshire Council, although it costs the authority at least £50,000 to maintain and repair the entry systems, with vandalism a major problem.

Public toilets, like these in Catterick Garrison, could be given an upgrade under the new review

The council is proposing to charge a fee for all toilets classified as excellent, with the option to pay with cash, or by card or phone, if possible.

The authority said it wanted all toilets to have at least 35 customers a day, with those with few users potentially facing closure, or seeing their opening times cut.

Other aspirations include a consistent standard of cleaning across the network, improved facilities for disabled users and more Changing Places toilets for people with additional needs.

Carl Les, North Yorkshire Council's leader, said the review was ongoing, with the results expected later this year.

"We won't know if there will be any changes until we are presented with the findings from the review, although it is more than likely we will be making some alterations to the services," he said.

The council said it was also planning to look at opportunities to hand control of some toilets to parish and town councils.

The so-called double devolution plans were expected to continue despite the collapse of a deal for Malton Town Council to take over the town's Market Place facilities after a campaign against proposals to introduce charges to use the toilets.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.