Okehampton Town Council has agreed to set aside at least £10,000 to upgrade the Fairplace public toilets in order to improve the town’s facilities.

At the latest meeting of the property committee (October 5), Cllr Terry Cummings proposed the council refurbish the public toilets at Fairplace to create a disability and stoma-friendly space with improved baby changing facilities, secure bike storage and solar-powered electric charging points for mobility scooters.

He said: “We don’t as a council at the moment provide those facilities and it’s now becoming a more and more prevalent requirement for people… We are doing ourselves a little bit of a disservice… The toilets are now dated.”

The bike storage and charging points would make the town more enticing to visitors, he added, as it would make the town more accessible to disabled people and provide a safe space for cyclists to store their bikes in the town centre.

There are currently no secure bike racks in the town centre. Cllr Cummings said he had seen groups of cyclists leave their bikes propped up outside, with one member staying behind as a “bodyguard” while the others visited a cafe.

Several councillors spoke in support of the proposal. Cllr Christine Marsh echoed Cllr Cummings’s comments, stating that the town council was working to encourage more visitors and pleasant toilet facilities would aid that.

Cllr Laura Bird added: “If we have nice public toilets, people will want to use them and want to look after them.”

The £10K will be diverted from the maintenance budget of the Market Street public toilets which the council leases from West Devon Borough Council. However, this lease is due to end in 2028 meaning the town council will no longer be responsible for their upkeep.

Due to a delay in the local government reorganisation, it is not yet known what will happen to the Market Street toilets once the lease ends.

But Cllr Julie Yelland said she would rather see one set of high-quality public toilets than two sets of lesser quality.