A cash-strapped local authority could start charging for access to public toilets and also cut staff number, a recent news report in the local media has been able to suggest. 

The proposed public toilet charges aim to save Sunderland City Council £155,000 and form part of wider plans to claw back cash as it faces a £12million cut in service spending next year. 

As part of the draft 2019/20 revenue budget, there could also be around 60 redundancies. 

Other proposals include a review of charges for bulky waste collection, which could draft in an extra £15,000. 

The council’s cabinet secretary, Coun Paul Stewart, said: “The council has to invest in the facilities that provide services. This means new buildings, new equipment, new plant and machinery."In the last nine years, the council has needed to save £290m as a result of Government funding cuts and unfunded spending pressures. 

"Yet, we have to make more and more difficult savings proposals and in the New Year there will be difficult decisions for the next budget." 

We approve of the council’s decision to start charging fees for the toilets. Understandably this is a sore spot with some members of the public, who believe that public toilets should be completely open access. However, funding public toilets is a severe struggle for local councils, and it is often neglected in favour of more immediately important options. 

In order to provide public toilets, some sort of funding is necessary! Many train stations and other areas which have fee-paying toilets install machines which can produce change from notes, so that the public don’t need to worry about that element of it. 

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, and a useful audit trail. 

They need no routine maintenance and come with a 2-year warranty.

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