Portland Council has asked for “a cheeky” £250,000 from the borough council before it disbands in April to make up for the disproportionate spending in Weymouth.

But borough leader Jeff Cant says there is no hope of getting the money – because it will be ruled out by the Dorset Council’s shadow executive.

Instead he is inviting the town council to come up with a ‘shopping list’ of items owned by the borough council which need improvements and upgrading before being transferred to the Portland Council in April.

Top of the Portland wish list might be re-opening the public toilets in Victoria Gardens, according to Portland Tophill West councillor Ray Nowak.

“There has been a considerable list of investments in Weymouth but there has been no similar list for Portland…we (the borough council) have committed to £400,000 on new toilets in Weymouth. Perhaps we could commit to reinstating the public toilets in Victoria Gardens,” said Cllr Nowak.

“Because it hasn’t got a public toilet it limits the use of those gardens… if you were minded, you could do that.

“There is an argument that, over the years, Portland has not had a fair share,” he said.

Fellow Portland councillor Sandy West told the borough management committee on Monday that Portland assets should be transferred back to Portland after more than 40 years of union with Weymouth.

“What Portland Town Council is asking for is not unreasonable… there has been a lot of worry from the people of Portland about what is going to happen,” she said.

Amongst the requests was for a £250,000 payment from the borough council to help meet some of the unexpected expenses of change in local government from April 2019 – a request which Cllr Nowak admitted was “cheeky” although he said that the bulk of public spending by the borough council had been in Weymouth since the last local government reorganisation in 1974.

The town council is also asking for the island’s six free public car parks to be switched to its control along with the pay and display Masonic car park next to the skate park, as well as an open, and a closed, cemetery; allotments; parks, gardens and play areas and all public loos.

The town also would like to see all its clocks, monuments and civil regalia legally transferred to it although some items may be the subject of debate about who the rightful owner is.

Cllr Cant said that despite claims of unbalanced spending the borough had always tried to do it was asked by Portland: “We are absolutely committed to equal treatment; there is a long list of items in exempt business which we are planning to transfer to the town council,” he said referring to a secret list of assets seen only by councillors.

He suggested that Cllr Nowak and his colleagues should come up with a list of what works might need completing to property expected to be transferred so the borough council could bring them up to the best possible standards to minimise future costs for Portland Town Council.

The list of items to be transferred will come before borough councillors again in January but will also need the approval of the Dorset Council shadow executive.