PUBLIC toilets in the Market Place are the only ones still open, after the town decided the others were unaffordable when Wiltshire Council said it would have to introduce rent charges.
Melksham town centre’s only remaining toilet block, outside the Art House Cafe, is now open 24 hours a day and is maintained by Melksham Town Council. The facilities on Bath Road and Church Street closed at the beginning of April.
A trial budget of £14,000 has been set aside for the Market Place block, with half each being funded by the town council and Melksham Without Parish Council.
Town clerk Steve Gray said, “The Market Place facility was settled on because it’s the only one already owned by the town council, and it’s right next to the main bus stop and taxi rank.
“Wiltshire Council would have only leased the other blocks to the town, and repairing or improving buildings owned by another authority wasn’t considered a good use of our taxpayers’ money.”
It was announced last year that public toilets were among the services being axed by the county council.
Mayor of Melksham, cllr Terri Welch said, “It’s not the ideal situation but it is a realistic solution. We initially considered saving the Church Street toilets, but were told we would have had to take on the car park as well.
“The facilities near the park are much bigger so would have been more costly, and aren’t as well used. I think we’ve come up with the best value solution.
“We all know Wiltshire Council have financial problems and are trying to offload as much as they can, but they didn’t make it easy for us to step up. We ended up with no real choice because we don’t want our rate payers having to subsidise huge amounts.”
