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A small rise in council tax will help pay for a new public toilet in Wokingham town centre
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Small council tax increase will help fund new public toilet

By Laura Herbert
February 06, 2013

Pleas for a town centre public toilet have not been flushed away, as a £1.20 council tax rise will fund a loo to open this spring.

For almost four years, shoppers in the town needing to spend a penny have been forced to use toilets in shops, pubs and businesses, leaving some people red-faced.

But Wokingham Town Council is replacing the existing block of public toilets in Rose Street with a single freestanding loo by increasing its council tax precept for the first time in four years by £1.20 a year for a Band D property. The rise will help offset a funding shortfall following changes to council tax benefits.

Councillor Philip Murfin, Wokingham Town Council leader, said: “I think every member of the public will be very pleased about it and it will take an awful lot of embarrassment away.

“It is something we felt we had to do for the benefit of the townspeople.”

The pay-to-use stone-clad unit features one toilet for men and women, has disabled access and includes a baby changing table.

llr Murfin continued: “When we have spoken to individuals the first thing anybody says is ‘why can’t we have toilets in Rose Street’.

“Some people get very embarrassed when they have to go into somewhere to use the loo and not buy anything. You have an obligation almost to feel you should buy something.

“The town council always said if we had a opportunity, we would so something about it.”

In 2009 the decision was made to close all five of Wokingham Borough Council’s public toilets as part of budget cuts. scheme was launched where businesses were offered a cash incentive for opening their toilets to the public.

But there have been complaints opening hours are not flexible enough and some are not accessible for people with children or disabilities.

The small increase in the council tax precept will help offset the cost of providing the toilet and ensure the town council continues running events such as the Living Advent Calendar, open air concerts and cinema, Christmas lights, the refurbishment of Langborough Recreation Ground and forthcoming work at Howard Palmer Gardens.

Cllr Murfin said: “The town council see it as an investment and we can either move it elsewhere or alternatively sell it on. We are not putting it in Rose Street to make any money, it is there as a service.”

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I think it's a tad unfair on the people who pay Council Tax to Wokingham District but never actually go into Wokingham as it's easier to get to Reading. Why should we have a specific tax hike for something we'll never see, let alone use?

blondie, Lower Earley
26/02/2013 at 12:02

Thanks Cllr Baker and Mr Challis for clarification regarding the mitigation funding. Would still be interested to get a response regarding WTC's reserves.

LarryS
13/02/2013 at 12:22

To add to the comment below, why not even offer ccfmobility store the chance to sponser the WC to reduce costs even further.

Mike Hawk
11/02/2013 at 20:32

The local loo scheme is all well and good but it fails badly when business's are closed and a individual needs to use one. more so if you have a disability.

I do not see why the existing block needs replacing though. Just make the disabled WC accessible again to key holders and save everybody a rate increase.

Leave a toilet brush and a bottle of bleach in there.

Only upgrade required would be a emergency pull cord linked to a audible alarm and outside beacon.

Mike Hawk
11/02/2013 at 20:25

Most of Europe requires that bars, cafe, etc allow public use of their toilets. If that was done in Wokingham there would be 20 plus public toilets in Wokingham Town Centre, a minute away from anywhere. Many of these have disabled and baby changing facilities. Many of these are open long hours. Most are warm, clean and well lit. Even without formal arrangement I’ve never been turned away when I’ve asked permission. 1 costly ‘public’ loo in the Rose Car Park. Or 20 plus around the town. No brainer I’d have thought.

Sceptical Resident, Wokingham
11/02/2013 at 18:03

I've heard this "it's up to 'them' how they do it" far too many times. I heard it the other day on this "horsemeat" crisis. When asked on C4 "have the number of FSA testers been cut?" Owen Paterson said that the funding had suffered the same cutbacks as all government departments, but it was still up to individual councils how they implement those cuts or pass on the rise in cost to tax payers, ie they are to blame, not him and the cuts couldn't be blamed for this in any way! ie he was saying "we've cut the money, but it's the council's fault for cutting the services".

I'm sorry, but that's utter B******. YOU cut the money, and so YOU cut the services unless YOU can come up with assistance in how to find other savings to avoid these cuts.

In the same breath, fatboy Pickles says that councils are just printing their own money and wasting it if they put up council tax.

You can't have it both ways and local councillors are stuck in the middle, approving of neither.

So I say this too ALL politicians - take some bl***y responsibilty for cuts if you make them. Don't make them, and then try to pass the blame for the impact of those costs unless you are prepared to get involved in those decisions but are overidden.

mavdo, Wokingham
11/02/2013 at 11:56

Wokingham Borough received around £3.6m from the government in mitigation funds.

Just to confirm to Larry S; the towns and parishes did not receive ALL of this.

Wokingham Borough quite correctly shared the funds out to the parishes in line with how much they were loosing through the changes in council tax benefit.

This allocation of the (90%) mitigation funding still leaves towns and parishes loosing money. However it is up to towns and parishes whether they make this up by putting up the precept taking money from reserves.

Phil Challis, woodley
11/02/2013 at 10:41

LarryS - re your question on council tax benefits. The government only passed on 90% of the cost in mitigating funds. ALL of the mitigating funds were passed through to Parish and Town Councils with the largest going to Woodley (£74K).

Cllr Keith Baker
09/02/2013 at 13:23

Would be interesting to know how much WTC has in its reserves and whether this project could have been paid for without any increase in precept.

This story also suggests that the £1.20 rise will help offset a funding shortfall following changes to council tax benefits. The Govt gave all billing authorities (i.e. WBC) mitigation funding to make up for this shortfall. Did WBC not pass this on to their town and parish councils?

LarryS
09/02/2013 at 10:09

There are also a few signs around the town centre, particularly where the toilets used to be. I have seen them, but couldn't immediately say where.

mavdo, Wokingham
06/02/2013 at 23:05

@Kaz4Wokingham - (hello by the way, good to see you on here!) - shops in the scheme have a small Local Loo sticker to put in their window. I personally don't think it's a brill idea as unless you're local (and hence less likely to need it), you'd not really know about it and struggle to see the sticker anyway.

alex_f, Wokingham
06/02/2013 at 17:46

I like the local shop solution on one proviso but, and I have tweeted this before. Where is the signage?

This shop has got a rates rebate so you can do your business without doing business, guilt free.

Kaz4Wokingham, Wokingham
06/02/2013 at 17:22

I'm sure there's a wee bit

Kevin Baker
06/02/2013 at 16:23

There must be a lot of paper work involved.

Jokingham, Wokingham
06/02/2013 at 16:00

Shame it isn't a changing spaces for everyone type of loo but if it can be kept clean, safe and not too unpleasant then I think it may be worth it.

K Huffmum
06/02/2013 at 15:13

mavdo - agree about the general (non-)effectiveness and lack of common sense; I get a little bit tired when the government makes an awful decision, someone challenges them, and they respond with 'well where would you get the money from?'.

I saw/heard this just last week, when the government were closing a part of a successful hospital for lack of funding, but had that same day decided to 'ringfence' (what a horrible piece of American jargon) the budget for the army that had previously been decided should be cut, and to increase it by a guaranteed 1% a year. And that they want to build a 37 BILLION pound railway line that goes from London to Birmingham 20 minutes quicker.

I really do despair; I would go into politics myself if I thought there was any chance of bringing about any kind of change or making a difference.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
06/02/2013 at 11:28

@DT - indeed they are, but my comment was about general cost savings from politics in general. It applies to central government, regional government and local councils. We always seem to cut things quickly that we all need and use because "we can't afford them", but still seem to waste loads of money every year on things that seem utterly pointless, but few people really know about. eg It turned out that the government were spending hundreds of thousands a year on trees in one of its offices in London, and only thought about not spending the money when someone blew the whistle on it, yet it is closing A&Es and sending hundreds of thousands of students into a lifetime of debt. We always cut the obvious and useful and leave the hidden and useless alone.

The redevelopment of Rose Street is due to start next year, right? So we'll have a chargeable portaloo for a year? Why? We've made do with no loos for 4 years already. Why not just include it into the new build and wait 18 months longer?

mavdo, Wokingham
06/02/2013 at 11:22

IP, I understand that. I suppose we'll have to wait and see how abusive visitors to the toilets will be; let's hope (against hope) that people can behave decently. I used the toilets that used to stand there a few times, and never found them to be all that bad.

I don't expect these toilets to stop drunks piddling outside my flat on a Friday/Saturday night, though.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
06/02/2013 at 11:14

DT - Previous experiences of visiting public toilets are that they are abused - Graffiti, criminal damage, other bodily functions that don't make it into the bowl.

An attendant present would deter it and be there to clean it up - as I said this would add considerable cost.

I'd rather use the Brown Bag and not have the added cost of paying twice.

I P Freely
06/02/2013 at 11:12

(my mistake, these are clearly pay toilets, so when we want to use them we will "have to pay for the privilege" (twice, because we've already paid our council tax)).

Mavdo - the local loo scheme, the redevelopment, the refuse issues - these are all projects of WBC. This is about WTC.

I think they have addressed your point regarding the toilet situation after the redevelopment, because they plan to sell the unit when/if it isn't needed any more.

Agree entirely with you about first-world-countries and toilets.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
06/02/2013 at 10:56

So those of us who pay this precept are paying to build a pay-to-use loo for the use of everyone else except us, because we are lucky enough to live close enough to dash home. If the council really think that this will bring more people into the town, great, otherwise what am I paying for?

Second thought - how does this fit into the Rose Street rebuild? Will it just be knocked down again when that happens? That'd just be a complete waste of time and money, just like our recycling that often just gets dumped into the blue bin bag side of the lorry despite the council's insistance that it doesn't (I'll film it next time it happens).

The current "local-loo"s are free. This new facility will mean that we need 50p or whatever it will cost, to use the loo. What if we don't have it.

In every other first world country that I have visited since 2008, every town has a local toilet facility that can be used by everyone for free. Even tiny towns hundreds of miles from anywhere. Why the UK cannot afford this cost, but can afford lots of other pointless things is beyond me. We wasted loads of money farming off town centre upgrades to a private firm, only to dissolve it without output, for example.

It always seems in the UK when we "cost-cut", we cut the things we actually need or use, rather than the waste and the buearacracy, because the latter is harder and might reveal where we are spending money that we really shouldn't be spending if you think about it in any reasonable way.

Councils need to do what companies do when they get a new CFO - analyse every single penny of spending and rejustify the business case and need for it. Don't just look at the obvious stuff that will have been pruned to within an inch of its life already.

mavdo, Wokingham
06/02/2013 at 10:42

IP, the facilities mean that there is somewhere for people in town to use a toilet without feeling they are intruding on a business, or that they have to pay for the privilege. I can't see any reason to have an attendant on duty - how would that help?

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
06/02/2013 at 10:41

Does this mean that the Local Loo scheme is being shelved?

Let's see the specifications and money. If Cllr Murfin thinks we can 'sell it on', what price and how likely are we to find a buyer for a pre-owned public toilet?

How does this fit in with Rose Street Car Park rebuild..... Will the replacement loo be sighted here, and will the new development include a proper bricks and mortar loo?

Kevin Baker
06/02/2013 at 10:39

At least drug users and others who are up to no good have a warm and dry place to do their business.

I don't see much point in having these facilities unless there is an attendant on duty which would significantly raise the annual costs.

I P Freely
06/02/2013 at 09:51

Kaz,

hopefully they'll do a reasonable job of providing the service efficiently, we'll wait and see. It's just nice that the town council has recognised the need for this service - which the Borough council has effectively removed - and filled that gap for its citizens.