This in from Mike Taplin on behalf of Lake Parish Council. Ed
As with many other Town and Parish Councils on the island, Lake Parish Council has been told that the public toilets on Lake Revetment (by the slipway) will close at the end of March, unless the Parish Council takes over financial and operational responsibility for them.
At its meeting held on 9 March the Parish Council resolved not to take on this responsibility.
Already run two other loos
This decision came after careful consideration of figures available to the Council. The Council now has nearly three years experience of running two other sets of toilets in Lake that were threatened with closure.
The cost of running these in 2015/16 was £12,700. In addition to cleaning and unlocking/locking daily, there is a constant battle against damage and graffiti, that is expensive to keep on top of. Nevertheless, the Council accepts that these facilities fulfil a vital public need, and will keep them open.
The toilets on Lake Revetment would cost £9,500/year for cleaning and unlocking/locking.
It is quite likely that, taking other costs into consideration, this one set of toilets would cost the Council as much each year as the other two together.
£16,000 repair cost
In addition, a survey of the building has shown that repairs to the structure costing £16,000 will be necessary before long. The IW Council has declined to hand them over in ‘fit’ condition by accepting responsibility for these outstanding repairs.
Further, because there is no sewer on the Revetment, all waste from the toilets has to be put through a masticator and pumped up a pipe to the top of the cliff, to join mains sewerage.
Too risky
The Council has no way of assessing the condition of masticator, pump or pipework, and feels it is simply too risky to take on this responsibility.
The Parish Council set its budget for 2016/17 on 13 January, increasing it from £48,000 to £50,000 for the year.
Unfortunately the figures outlined above were only made available in February, and there is a high risk that taking on the Revetment toilets would breach the budget, and place an unacceptable burden on our modest reserves. This is the background to the decision taken today.
