Council to pay landowner £250,000 to hand back loos

Saunton Beach toilets costly to run

North Devon Council is paying £250,000 to the owners of Saunton Beach to get out of operating and managing the public toilets.

The council entered into a 50-year lease with Christie Estates in 2002 to run the loos in the car park but says the associated costs are now around £48,000 a year.

It has agreed a deal with the owners to surrender the lease early to save costs in the long run.

North Devon Council’s strategy and resources committee approved the move on Monday saying savings over the next 27 years could be more than £1 million.

The toilets needed a complete refurbishment after 23 years of heavy use which was estimated at a further £250,000, a report for councillors said

Saunton Sands is one of North Devon’s most popular beaches and North Devon Council’s small team of toilet cleaners are struggling to keep them clean and well maintained, especially in the summer when they are used by thousands of holidaymakers and local people.

Councillors believed Christie Estates could manage the facilities more effectively using their on-site staff and refurbish them with the money from the council.

The authority has looked at installing a payment system at the toilets to mitigate some costs, but this was refused by the beach owners.

Other lavatories at neighbouring beaches, including Woolacombe and Putsborough, are owned and managed by beach owners and of a much higher standard than those at Saunton Beach car park.

Cllr Paul Crabb (Con, Ilfracombe East) questioned why the lease was entered into in the first place and said the proposal meant every resident of North Devon would have to pay £2 that would go to Christies Estates.

“It’s utter nonsense. There must be some other way we can crush this lease,”

Committee members were told that closing the toilets is not an option.

Cllr Pru Maskell (Con, Braunton West and Georgeham) said she welcomed the move if it was the only way to improve the toilets, especially for disabled people.

The council’s director of resources Jon Triggs said when the lease was signed in 2002 it was “a different time” when the district council ran many more public conveniences than it did now.

In the last couple of years it had made the decision to pass public loos to town and parish councils.

“This gives us an opportunity to escape from the lease,” he said. “It’s a financial consideration but will make significant savings moving forward.”

This will be the last summer the council is responsible for the toilets and the lease wil be surrendered in November.

Cllr John Patrinos (Ind, Lynton and Lynmouth) said the buyout made sense, as £48,000 was an awful lot of money each year.

He was told that the toilets are cleaned several times a day and water usage is high.

Cllr Graham Bell (Lib Dem, Braunton East) said the cost to the taxpayer would be £10 per person if they didn’t do anything.

He continued: “It is a horrible amount of money to spend, but this beach is one of the greatest features in the country, some might say in the world? It is a fantastic beach and Christies can do better at making the toilets more accessible for all, make them run more efficiently and keep them cleaner.”