Communities to be consulted on public conveniences

The budget for operating public conveniences across Highland was reduced by £250,000 in 2016/17 and a further £344,000 in 2017/18, at Highland Council in February 2016 as part of the overall budget savings, leaving a budget of £639,000 thereafter.

The council operates 102 public conveniences and 27 comfort schemes with annual costs of £1.233 million.

Members of the Community Services Committee have agreed that the service should seek to achieve savings without the closure of toilets during 2016/17, but that there may need to be closures of toilets in 2017/18 to achieve the total savings required.

A proposal was put forward to increase charges for using public conveniences to 50p, however Members agreed that local communities should be consulted about an increase in charges, before a decision is made.

Chair of the Community Services Committee, Councillor Allan Henderson said: “It is essential that the agreed savings are achieved and this cannot be done without raising charges, closing toilets or a combination of both. This is something that is important for local communities to consider and decide what is best for their community.”