MELKSHAM Town Council still plans to reopen the town’s closed public toilets, despite last month’s suspension of Parliament causing a new law to reduce the cost of running public toilets to be delayed.
In November last year, the council pledged to reopen the toilets on Church Street and Bath Road, following the announcement in the Government’s Budget last October that councils would no longer have to pay business rates on public toilets.
The business rate relief was not expected to come into force until April 2020 – subject to the bills passage through Parliament – but councillors decided to press ahead with their plans, agreeing in February to prioritise the toilets on Bath Road, which service the King George V playing field, and open them as soon as possible.
However, due to Boris Johnson’s suspension of Parliament, which was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court, the Non-Domestic Rating Public Lavatories Bill, which was making its way through the House of Lords, has been delayed.
Although Parliament has now returned, a date is yet to be scheduled for the ‘committee stage’ – a line by line examination of the bill in the House of Lords. Once this has been completed, the bill moves on to the ‘report stage’ and then the ‘third reading’ before it is then passed on to the House of Commons for discussion.
After completing its passage through both Houses, it will receive Royal Assent, which is when the Queen formally agrees to make the bill into an Act of Parliament (law).
Despite this delay, the council has said that it is continuing with its plans, and is currently exploring options for the toilets on Bath Road.
Town clerk for the town council, Linda Roberts, told Melksham News, “I am currently seeking quotes for a couple of options – either a knock down and rebuild or a full refurbishment.
“Council has agreed they want the toilets open and there is no caveat from council which subjects that to the decision in parliament not to charge NDR (non-domestic rates tax).
“The legislation will be debated by parliament at some point and of course the town council hopes it receives Royal Assent.”
