Agenda item

To consider the report and give Committee Members an opportunity to scrutinise the Draft Local Toilets Strategy and propose any feedback prior to its submission to the Cabinet.

Submitted - a report updating the Committee on the impact of cuts on the County's public toilets and the Service's plans for the future with the development of the proposed strategy to be adopted and published by 31 May 2019. It was noted that following the Her Gwynedd decision to implement a cut of £244,000 in the service by delivering the Partnering Scheme with Community and Town Councils, the Council had managed to keep up to 63 toilets open within the County.  It was reiterated that the County had a provision of 35 community toilets that were part of the Community Toilets Grant Scheme.

            In response to Section 8 of the Public Health Act (Wales) 2017, every Local Authority in Wales was required to assess its community's needs in relation to toilets and then use strategic and transparent methods to meet that need in the best possible way. In developing the strategy, it was highlighted that broader options had been considered that would address the current challenges relating to providing facilities in communities as well as a reduction in the service budget. Attention was drawn to the timetable which highlighted the key steps towards publishing the strategy.

            Members welcomed the information and the positive work that had been achieved.

            During the ensuing discussion, the following points were highlighted by individual Members:

·         Road signage was needed to draw attention to facilities located off busy roads - the signs to offer information and directions.

·         Welcome the Community Toilets Scheme, but needed to amend and improve the condition of some of the buildings - needed to ensure that the toilets were up to standard.

·         Needed to be better at advertising and promoting community toilets.

·         That any information on the website relating to toilets should be up-to-date and a printable version should be made available.

·         Needed to encourage more community toilets - accepted there was a waiting list, but there was a need to review the situation.

·         The distance between toilets was a concern - was it possible to map them out every 10 miles?

·         There was a suggestion to include information on the Gwynedd app.

·         There was a need to consider establishments that offered longer and more flexible hours.

·         That neutral facilities were needed - potentially consider that no designation was needed.

·         Possible to create a link to Google Maps of the location of conveniences.

·         Target some highway businesses to offer the use of their facilities.

·         That more emphasis was being placed on tourists' needs; it was the local people who paid the taxes.

          In response to an observation whether or not the community toilets scheme offered value for money, it was noted that the scheme was valuable in the full picture but there was an opportunity to review the scheme and look at areas with no facilities. It was noted that the scheme was funded by Welsh Government and that it was now money that was included as part of the annual settlement and it had been ring-fenced for this use only. It was noted that a grant was also received from the Trunk Road Agent. It was reiterated that it would be possible to review the numbers and also the locations and amend them as needed along with the amount paid to every participating business. It was also noted that as soon as the Strategy would be published in May 2019, some work would be carried out to map and identify the gaps.

          In response to an observation on maximising the standard and quality of the facilities, it was highlighted that a grant had been received recently to upgrade three conveniences that included nappy changing facilities. It was reiterated that work was being done to attract funding to carry out upgrade work on five other properties and that grants were an opportunity for the services to look at new and innovative opportunities. In response to an observation that the service was reliant on grants to upgrade the standard and condition of the toilets, and should the grant be terminated the responsibility and the cost would fall on the Community Council, it was confirmed that it was the Council that was responsible for the condition of the conveniences.

          In response to an observation regarding using Google Maps or a suitable app, it was highlighted that this was a statutory part of the strategy and it would be a natural step to create an app.

          RESOLVED to accept the report and to recommend that the Cabinet Member addresses the observations when drawing up the final Toilets Strategy.