Plans to introduce charges to use dozens of council-owned toilets appear to have been temporarily blocked amid concerns that a fee of up to 50p would not wash with the public.
Senior North Yorkshire Council councillors were expected to approve a set of recommendations for the future management of the authority’s conveniences at a meeting this morning (Tuesday).
The proposed changes included a usage fee of either 40p or 50p, the closure of underused or dilapidated conveniences and encouraging town and parish councils to take over the running of their local facilities.
But the plug was pulled on the agenda item ahead of the executive committee meeting.
Councillor Keane Duncan, Conservative member for the Norton division, said a debate on the report was postponed after he had raised concerns with council leader Carl Les.
Cllr Duncan, who launched a ‘free to pee’ campaign over previous plans to charge users of conveniences in Malton, said he had asked for the executive to take extra time to consider the proposed changes.
He added:
“Charging people to use the toilet is unfair and unjust. Thanks to the strength of our community petition, we successfully stopped charges and closures in Malton last year.
“With the threat of a toilet tax now looming for the whole of North Yorkshire, I am relaunching my ‘free to pee’ campaign and redoubling efforts to defend this essential service in communities across the county.
“I welcome the leader’s decision to postpone this plan, giving time for the full impact of these proposals to be properly and carefully considered.”
It is understood several other members of the Conservative and Independents group, which controls the council, have raised concerns about the rollout of fees.
Councillor Andrew Williams, independent councillor for the Ripon Minster and Moorside division and a member of the ruling group, said he would like to see the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith, contributing towards public toilets.
He added:
“The mayor is wanting to levy a tourism tax and raise money from tourists, well he should be providing facilities for them. I think we need to focus on what the mayor brings to the table and then assess our options thereafter.
“Looking at charges and all the rest of it at the moment is potentially premature.”
Discussing why the agenda item had been removed, Cllr Les told the meeting:
“I’ve decided to defer this to a later date because the working group report only went to scrutiny (committee) last week.
“There were some amendments to it, so I think we need a little bit more time just to look at those amendments.”
Cllr Les denied after the meeting that the item had been pulled from the meeting agenda due to pressure from backbench colleagues.
The authority is currently responsible for 85 traditional toilet blocks and eight changing places toilets — more than any other council in the UK.
Of the 93, 65 are currently free to use.
The service is forecast to cost the authority £230,000 in 2025/26.
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