The public toilets situated at Lake on the revetment between Sandown and Shanklin are to close, it has been confirmed today (Thursday).
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 last night (9th March) the Parish Council resolved not to take on this responsibility.
The decision has come after careful consideration of figures available to the Parish Council, who have 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, Lake Parish Council accepts that these facilities fulfil a vital public need and will continue to keep them open.
The toilets on Lake Revetment would cost £9,500 per year for cleaning and unlocking/locking. Lake Parish Council say that it is quite likely that, taking other costs into consideration, this one set of toilets would cost them as much each year as the other two together. In addition, a survey of the building has shown that repairs to the structure costing £16,000 will be necessary before long.
As 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. The Parish 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 13th 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 their modest reserves.
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