Sandown residents will again see an increase in their Council Tax bills after last year’s 50% hike. A 6.6% rise in council tax precept was approved by Sandown Town Council on Monday night for the year ahead, as well as an increase in toilet fees to 50p all year round. It was also approved to reduce the town mayor’s allowance – to nothing. The average Band D Sandown resident will now pay £232.80 a year towards the services and activities of the town council — an extra £14.47 a year — which makes it one of the most expensive towns, parish or community council precepts on the Island. The budget approved by the town council this week — with 8 members in favour and 3 against — was put forward by the current and former mayors, Cllrs Alex and Paddy Lightfoot. Councillor Paddy Lightfoot said:
“The budget is not perfect, it is still a rise, I would love to see it come down but inflation being where it is it is an expectation, unless we cutback which I refuse to accept we should be doing.”
The budget includes £30,000 for a youth provision in the town, £2,000 for the Christmas Funday and £7,800 to provide mechanical raking of the beach to the south of Sandown Pier. The council agreed to hire a senior planning enforcement officer for a year but deputy mayor, Councillor Ian Fletcher, was against the idea saying he felt the officer would not be able to help and it would be wrong for taxpayers to pay nearly £9,000 for that. Councillor Debbie Andre said residents had long been asking for something to be done about the derelict buildings and, while there would be no magic wand to resolve the situation, a dedicated planning enforcement officer for the town would be valuable. Councillors said they would assess results before they commit to further funding. The Lightfoots also included a £40,000 fund for ‘Place Plan and Town Improvements’, for some of the projects in the newly created Bay Place Plan. Cllr Paddy Lightfoot said:
“It is a chunk of money but for the last few years we have been rebuilding, we have been sorting out toilets and I see we should now be looking further ahead than that and about actually rebuilding Sandown.”
He said the money will help bring in additional grant funding from other sources.
Omg 50p for a pee !!!!!!
Although I don’t disagree with paying as they have to be cleaned etc ,but surely 20p is enough??????
Shanklin is 20p a pee….
Ventnor have a free loo to pee …..
And as for reducing the Mayor’s allowance to nothing ,how much did he get for his / her allowance previously????,,
And why do we need Mayor’s??????
You already pay for the toilets to be cleaned as part of your council tax. Public toilets should be free to use. The people who need them most often can’t afford to waste 50p just to use the toilet. Before you know it, this disgraceful council will be charging extra to empty our bins and for educating our children. What do they actually spend our council tax on? I am sick of this rip-off council.
I agree they should be free to use,…
not that I can’t afford 20p, or even 50p (but that is ridiculously expensive),..it’s more that I don’t carry cash,.. at all.
if they make it so you can pay by card, or even crypto,.. it wouldn’t be so bad
Just piss in the street, the UK is now a 3rd world country now.
That’s what I do also I do a number two in the gutter..
It’s a bit more than just cleaning that’s required, though, isn’t it?
Electricity, water, toilet paper, soap, dryers etc. They all need to be paid for. And, if you factor in the cost of repairing public conveniences every time they get smashed up, I doubt if 50p per use actually covers the cost.
Which is why you pay your council tax. We shouldn’t expect to pay council tax and then pay again for services we have paid for already. This council are a wunch of bankers.
Yes but for decades it never was ..so why now ??? i will never pay for a piss and….
I know we pay our council tax , and I know they have other costs as well but 20p should suffice..
If the council didn’t waste our c tax , it could / should be free …
But they need to invest in cctv due to the numptys that vandalise our loos…..
The cost would outweigh the hassle of repair etc ……
When it was the old rate system toilets were free ,but then when didn’t pay for workers to have mobile phones and laptop’s……
Maybe we need to cull the council!!!!!
Then we can all pee for free !!!!!!
Free in freashwater lovely new toilets ..well done to freashwater council..they know how to treat locals and tourism..
Yes, 50p will make Sandown the most expensive public toilets on the Island.
We’ll be number one for a number one!
The requirement or necessity for town or parish councils especially on the IOW is dubious at best in such a small environment.,they are another level of mindless bureaucracy,a total duplication.do away with these talking shops and council tax could probably stay neutral on the island.
50p to use a toilet, absolute joke. Presumably Sandown town council don’t want visitors anymore. The place will be stinking with everyone peeing in the streets. Mind you, the whole town looks like a toilet anyway.
Its not TURDTOWN for nothing…
Just pee in the sea and cut out the middle man
John too late Southern Water do that already and charge you for it ..
Turd town what 50 p for a piss !! naa ill piss up against the wall instead ..bloody discusting what a dump for locals and tourism..discrasefull.. TURDTOWN strikes again..
Sandown is not “one of” the most expensive precepts on the island, it it is, for the second year running and by a large margin, THE most expensive precept on the island and amongst the highest in the whole country.
With a Council tax that’s also amongst the highest in the country Sandown has to be a clear contender for one of the most expensive places to live.
The only area where it doesn’t rank highly is when you try to work out what they actually get for that money.
More money for sandown council to squander on them selfs then,every year money goes up sandown gets worse
Are sandown council trying to push visitors and residents away, the most expensive council tax for a derelict town, and let’s face it, if it wasn’t for that beach nobody would go there. It’s already a toilet.
I pay Council tax and parking fees
I refuse to pay to use toilets
P*ss up the wall is much cheaper
The island is becoming a dump so it will add to the aroma.
IW Council stinks
This Council is run by uncaring B’stards
They know we are in the worse economic situation of all time and
the island also as an elderly population who need to use the toilet on a
regular basis.
UNLESS THEY ARE TRYING TO STING THE HOLIDAYMAKERS
50p is taking the P*ss, pardon the pun!
Sandown is just one big free toilet. So why pay to use it? The town is on it’s last legs, why pump more money into it.
They don’t mention this sh*t on Channel 5s fake show about the
Isle of Shite
As soon as the public toilets are upgraded the bloody kids are wrecking them. More of our Council Tax money is spent on continuous repairs. Install some decent CCTV around the town, catch these little sh*ts and make them pay for the damage they willfully cause!