Plans to close some of Sidmouth's public toilets are being 'strongly opposed' by the town council.

Under its review of public toilet provision, East Devon District Council (EDDC) proposes to close either the loos in Market Place or those at Port Royal. It also suggests that they could be replaced by a new toilet block to serve both areas.

A working group of Sidmouth town councillors have discussed their response to the consultation on the review, which ends at 5pm on Friday (October 1).

They've listed several criticisms of the proposals and the criteria they were based upon, and also questioned the need for an expensive revamp of some of the district's facilities, at the expense of others which would be lost.

The district council's proposals for Sidmouth's loos

For the purposes of the review, EDDC put all the public toilets it currently operates in the district into one of three categories.

Those in Category A will be retained and modernised in a project costing around £3 million, district wide. In Sidmouth the Category A loos are those in Connaught Gardens and the Triangle, with the recognition that there also needs to be a facility at either Market Place or Port Royal.

But both Market Place and Port Royal are also in Category B – those which are less important to the community and have potential to be sold or redeveloped.

The review also suggests that the toilets in Sidbury, Sidford and Sidmouth's Long Park, which are currently cleaned by EDDC but not operated by the council, could be transferred to Sidmouth Town Council.

Sidmouth Town Council's views

Summarising its objections, the town council said it 'strongly opposes' all the closure plans for Sidmouth and also disagrees with the way they were categorised.

It said: "The Sid Valley has a vibrant and busy local community, the economy and employment of which relies on a fast-growing tourism sector, and providing the current facilities as a clean, accessible and serviceable public toilet provision is vital to its continued success, and as a result, this benefits the wider area of East Devon significantly. In addition, the town also has a higher proportion of retired people who are more likely to need toilet facilities close by."

The working group also said they thought the cost of the proposed revamp of Category A toilets seemed 'huge and over-estimated', and they didn't think toilets needed to be award-winning – 'they should be clean, accessible and serviceable'.

They said closing any toilet block in Sidmouth would have a 'huge impact' on the remaining facilities and with the town expected to get busier each year, all the toilets were 'vital'.

They questioned the placing of the Market Place and Port Royal loos in Category B and said the Long Park toilets should be in Category A.

Sidmouth Town Council had asked for a meeting with EDDC officers and councillors to look at other approaches to the issue and alternative solutions, but were told this would not be possible before the end of the consultation period.

When the full council meets on Monday, October 4, it will be recommended to submit the summary paragraph as a response to EDDC, with a further recommendation that Sidmouth Town Council recognises the 'difficult choices' EDDC is having to make, and is willing to explore ways they could work together on the provision of toilet facilities.

To read Sidmouth Nub News's report on some of the public's responses to the consultation, click here.