Okehampton Town Council announced this week (December 20) that it is asking residents’ opinions on whether to continue to maintain the Market St toilets after calculations revealed that maintenance fees would double this coming year.

The town council has estimated that cleaning, maintenance and utility bills for the two sets of public toilets at Fairplace and Market Street which are maintained by the council would cost almost £40,000 per annum. It is now debating whether or not it should close the toilets at Market Street and asking residents for their thoughts.

In a letter to residents, the council said: ‘Councillors have been scrutinising the council’s budgets in preparation for the new financial year which starts on April 1. Committees examined their elements of the budget over the autumn and made a recommendation...which included that the need for the council to maintain two sets of public toilets in the town should be considered. Fairplace toilets are owned by the town council whilst those in Market Street are leased from WDBC who otherwise would likely have closed them a few years ago. Rising costs for their cleaning, maintenance and utility bills mean that together these two sets of toilets are expected to cost £38,143 in the coming year (Fairplace £13,447 and Market Street £24,696). Insurance premiums are expected to rise by at least 100 percent from £19,842 to £40,000 for the year and electricity/gas costs are doing the same.

‘There has been a small growth in the council tax base...which will help to spread the cost slightly. The majority of the new development is outside of the town boundary and within the Hamlets meaning that those people do not contribute towards the cost of the services that are offered by the town council.’

Okehampton Town Council’s budget pays for local services including the upkeep of Simmons Park, Clapps Wood, the skatepark, Town Hall and Charter Hall, public toilets, CCTV, some of the bins and benches, and the cemetery.

Comments should be sent to [email protected] or posted to the Town Hall by January 20, 2023. Comments left on social media may not be picked up and will not be taken into consideration.