Cornwall Council has asked for help from Town and Parish Councils and the business community to find the best solution that would enable it to keep public toilets across the county open by funding them in a different way, a local news source can reveal.
Members agreed the decision to end Cornwall Council funding for running public toilets from 1 April 2016 last year as part of the 2014-2018 budget, which needed to find savings of £196m as a result of reductions in Government funding.
Since then Members have been looking at a range of options to help keep as many public toilets open as possible while also giving best value to local residents.
A number of public toilets have already been devolved to Town and Parish Councils and others have been transferred back to private landowners. The authority is now organising a large-scale tender called ‘Your Convenience,’ which seeks to attract bids from numerous sources to help secure the public toilet provision at over 40 Public Conveniences across Cornwall.
These toilet blocks are located in well-known locations such as Padstow, the Camel Trail and Praa Sands. Interested parties are being offered the opportunity to take on a lease of a public toilet to use as a commercial business. The tenderers will be required to continue to provide public toilets as a condition of the lease.
Businesses may utilise part of the existing building or if possible use land next to or near to the toilets to operate a business which could transform it into a wide variety of commercial uses such as cafes, recreational activities or even holiday lets (subject to planning).
Charging a fee for access is the most sensible solution when it comes to public toilets’ funding, and this is exactly where Toilet Turnstiles could really puts its experience to good work.
Our toilet turnstiles are built from graded stainless steel, for easier cleaning and maintenance, and also come equipped with lockable lids to prevent unwanted access. Furthermore, the separate coin box offers very versatile mounting options, as it can be installed either in front of the turnstile, at the side or alternatively, on the wall, with the cash box at the rear.
The turnstile’s coin mechanism can be programmed for virtually any combination of coins with a secure cash box to hold them, while the additional counters for the number of entries made will enable a thorough level of control over the system’s operation.
If you need some additional information regarding our extensive range of products, just get in touch, we’ll be sure to answer any and all of your queries.