Businesses and organisations looking for space to develop new opportunities in Peasedown St John are being asked to come forward.
Expressions of Interest are being sought for the refurbishment and habitation of a third of the current well-used public toilet block in the village, in Greenlands Road car park.
The community amenity, which last year was on B&NES Council’s hit-list for closure, has been the subject of high press attention for the last 12 months following a disagreement between the ruling Lib Dem administration and village councillor Nathan Hartley over their future.
The lack of support from the Lib Dem Cabinet for the retention of the toilet block was one of the causes behind the councillor’s resignation from the party earlier this year.
Councillor Nathan Hartley led the campaign to keep the amenities open, after being lobbied by residents, businesses and community groups. He said: “Many residents, particularly the elderly and those with disabilities, have told me that they’d like them to stay open, and I know that some of the businesses in Bath Road would like them to remain.
“I’m aware that councils have to make decisions about how to spend less money, but small local amenities like this do matter.
“Peasedown St John is a village in need of more services and amenities. With almost 7,000 residents it’s important that we have the investment our village needs.”
Thanks to Nathan’s persistence and campaign the council agreed to include the lavatories within a new district-wide contract with Healthmatic, who maintain and operate more than 1,000 lavatories across the UK.
Nathan added: “Thanks to Healthmatic, we could see some big changes this year, which include further refurbishment and the introduction of new automatic locking and unlocking and a 20p charge facility charge.
“Part of the toilet block is to also be adapted for community or business use.”
In order for this to happen though Healthmatic and Cllr Hartley need an organisation to express an interest in taking on part of the building for commercial use, after it was revealed at February’s Council Budget meeting that the Lib Dems were unwilling to allocate ring fenced funding for the lavatories.
During the meeting Nathan’s amendment for £20,000 of allocated funding (from a £280 million council budget) was rejected by just 4 votes, after Lib Dem and Labour councillors voted against the proposal.
B&NES Council’s Property Services Department have now posted details on their website of all toilet amenities across the authority where Expressions of Interest are being invited, with a deadline of 13th June for organisations to come forward.
Parish Councillor Mandy Clarke is Secretary of the village Residents Association. She added: “There is a lot of opportunity here for commercial organisations to, among other things, create an internet hub for public use, open up a small business such as a hand-car wash, or perhaps even for Curo Housing to move so they have a base within our community.”
For more details visit www.bathnes.gov.uk/propertylistings or contact Nathan by emailing [email protected]
