Town and parish councils in West Dorset are disappointed and let down over the planned transfer of public toilets back to them – according to opposition district councillors at West Dorset.

Bridport councillor David Rickard says when the smaller councils handed their loos and other assets to the district council at the last major local government reorganisation in 1974 they gave them freely without contracts, clauses and claw backs.

But now the district council is considering transferring the costly public loos to the smaller councils they are suggesting leaseholds, not freehold agreements; the right to take the toilets back at any time and to claw back any income or money from future sales.

Cllr Rickard says the changes come at the 11th hour, in the 14th revision of the draft arrangements.

“Bridport Town Council, both officers and councillors, are deeply disappointed and alarmed by the report…because in stead of devolution of services to an appropriate level, which is the cornerstone of the Localism Act, we have services contracted out….why does anyone think that an Town or Parish would want to be a contractor for the unitary council whose shadow executive have already indicated its determination to not deliver these services.”

He said the move would saddle parishes with contracts and leases and “start the new era with resentment.”

“They should be handed back to towns and parishes without all this garbage around them,” he told a special council strategy committee meeting in Dorchester on Monday.

The Bridport councillor said the new draft terms meant “a fundamental change from the devolution of services and freehold transfer of assets to a sub-contracting arrangement, with assets leased to the town and parish councils as sub-contractors.”

Cllr Matt Hall (Sherborne) said it was simply wrong for the district council to suggest that parish and town councils could just charge their residents more to pay for the loos and said the new proposals were ‘a nonsense.’

“Surely nobody in this room would walk into a High Street bank and take out a mortgage without knowing the repayments were, or the terms or rate of interest ?”.

“West Dorset had the opportunity – but this is really letting everyone down,” he said.

Cllr Rickard said that ultimately, it would place the future of public conveniences in West Dorset at risk…”to not have public conveniences in any town is unacceptable, but in coastal and tourist towns it is unthinkable.”

Dorchester Cllr Stella Jones said she was concerned about whether enough money would be offered by the district council to bring toilets up to the standard to comply with disability legislation before they were handed over. She was told that the £1.3million set aside was all there was.

Some also questioned why a 20 year leaseholds originally suggested, had now been increased to 30. Officers were unable to explain why.

There was also concern that some councils were being offered more favourable deals – Corfe Castle is being offered public toilets freehold and a public car park which can be used to help pay for their upkeep. No other council, so far, has been offered an income generating asset to help pay for the toilets beyond the two years for which financial support has been proposed.

But the committee heard that the draft agreements were just that – in draft form and each transfer of a toilet could be negotiated separately….if there was time to do so before the start of the new unitary council in April 2019.

In all up to 26 public loos across West Dorset are being suggested for transfer to town and parish councils with a payment of £328,000 to support them for up to two years and £538,000 as a once off payment for refurbishment work.

But even after the payments the town and parish councils, if they take on the toilets, will need to find an extra £210,000 over the two year period.

Senior officer Stephen Hill said the draft papers before councillors were not set in stone and many of the points were the “legal niceties’ the council had to comply with in case of future legal challenges to what was being proposed.

“The draft guidelines are there to be amended,” he said.

Council leader Cllr Tony Alford said the drafts were “an enabling paper” which opened the way for detailed discussions with the town and parishes – although he admitted that final agreements would not come from West Dorset District Council, but from the shadow executive, a body made up of senior councillors, almost all Conservative, who are setting out the future for the new Dorset Council.