The town’s closed public toilets should to be reopened following the announcement in the Government’s Budget that councils will no longer have to pay business rates on public toilets.
That’s the view of deputy major, cllr Jon Hubbard, who is campaigning for the toilets to be re-opened.
“When Wiltshire Council decided it could no longer fund the public toilets across the county, Melksham Town Council and Melksham Without Parish Council jointly funded keeping the toilets in the Market Place open, but all others were closed,” he told Melksham News. “The councils felt it was too expensive to keep all of the public toilets in the town open, in part because of the cost of the business rates.”
Cllr Hubbard is now calling for a new assessment of the cost of opening the toilets following Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Budget announcement. “I would particularly like to see the toilets in the Bath Road car park reopened if we can,” said cllr Hubbard. “These would provide a vital facility for our park, that is currently sorely missing.”
Cllr Hubbard has written to Melksham Town Council asking for a review of the costs to be undertaken and a report brought to the next available council meeting, for a decision to be taken.
