Council proposes public toilets take-over (From Keighley News)
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Council proposes public toilets take-over
4:00pm Thursday 19th July 2012 in Keighley
Public toilets in Keighley, Silsden, Cross Roads, Haworth and East Morton could be handed over to parish and town councils.
Bradford Council is asking the smaller councils whether they would be interested in running unattended toilets in their areas.
The measure has been proposed to help Bradford Council save £88,000 a year across the district on its public conveniences budget.
The proposal has received a mixed response from local councillors. The potential transfer of the Keighley Market toilets was welcomed by Andrea Walker, chairman of the town council’s general purposes committee.
She said: “Keighley is a market town and we need trade in the market. If people come to the market and there are no toilets, the nearest are at Morrisons or the Airedale Centre.”
The committee will discuss Bradford’s proposal tonight.
Silsden town mayor Chris Atkinson said it was likely his fellow councillors would reject the offer to run the toilets by Silsden's Punch Bowl pub.
He said: “I think the public would go mad if the council expected us to do that. We pay for the toilets in our rates so they should do it.”
The potential transfer of unattended toilets in Cross Roads Park and Penistone Hill, Haworth, was discussed on Monday by Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Parish Council.
Members said they would be willing to consider taking over responsibility, but wanted more information before making a decision.
Coun Peter Hill said: “I wouldn’t be interested in us taking over the running of the toilets unless we owned them as well.”
Bradford Council has also suggested transferring toilets on Main Street, East Morton, to either Keighley Town Council or East Morton Village Society.
Bradford has also suggested significantly reducing winter opening hours at two attended toilets in Haworth, in the park and near the Parsonage Museum. This would reduce the annual wage bill from £60,000 to £42,000.
