Spending more than a penny on loos
PEOPLE who spend a penny in Babergh have been helping the district's coffers . . . but not a lot!Public toilets across the district - including award-winning loos in Hadleigh and posh porcelain at Flatford - brought the council a windfall of £50 during the current financial year - but cost almost £200,000 a year to run.
PEOPLE who spend a penny in Babergh have been helping the district's coffers . . . but not a lot!
Public toilets across the district - including award-winning loos in Hadleigh and posh porcelain at Flatford - brought the council a windfall of £50 during the current financial year - but cost almost £200,000 a year to run.
Special superloos in Sudbury, which are fully staffed, are expected to bring in £7,700 to the council's coffers - but even that is only a drop in the ocean so far as the total toilet budget is concerned.
Councillors and officials were flushed with pride when their toilets in Hadleigh won an award last year, and the posh superloos in Gaol Lane, Sudbury replaced some old public loos that were a magnet for vandalism and anti-social behaviour.
Today people expect public toilets to be of a high standard - but outside major towns are not prepared to pay to use them.
The total cost of the running toilets across the district is expected to be £199,290 this year. Once the income is taken away, the cost to council tax payers is £191,540.
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The money is spent on contractors who maintain the toilets, repairs and maintenance, rates, and on repaying the capital charges incurred when they were built.
A spokesman for Babergh council said most of its toilets were free to the public, and were in an area where tourism is very important for the local economy.
He added: “The convenience of these toilets is more important to us than the cash they raise.”
The figures are revealed in the council's draft budget, which will be debated by Babergh's strategy committee tomorrow .
It is set to recommend that the council should increase its element of council tax by 2.7 per cent - the current rate of inflation - for the financial year starting in April.
WEBLIN: www.babergh.gov.uk
Public toilets in south Suffolk:
East Bergholt, Flatford Visitors Centre
East Bergholt, Red Lion Car Park
Lavenham, Cock Inn Car Park
Lavenham, Prentice Street
Hadleigh, Magdalen Road
Shotley, Bristol Hill
Chelmondiston, Pin Mill
Sudbury, Bus Station
Sudbury, Gaol Lane
Sudbury, Burkitts Lane
Sudbury, Belle Vue Park
Long Melford, The Green
Long Melford, Cordell Road
