Honiton King Street Toilets
In 2021, East Devon District Council (EDDC) decided to stop funding the King Street public toilets in Honiton, citing budget pressures and the availability of other nearby facilities.
EDDC’s review in 2021, placed Honiton King Street in a lower priority category, suggesting closure or transfer, while keeping other toilets open. Honiton Town Council (HTC) disagreed, stressing the importance of King Street toilets for the community.
EDDC delayed making a firm decision, leaving the future of the toilets uncertain. When they finally offered to transfer the toilets to HTC, the initial terms included high running costs (around £50,000 a year) and legal conditions that HTC found unacceptable, so they rejected the offer.
Later, EDDC revised the proposal, offering to sell the toilets to the Town Council for a nominal £1 but with conditions requiring the site to remain a public toilet for at least 10 years and for the Town Council to cover all maintenance and running costs.
Despite the costs, the Town Council bought the King Street toilets and has been operating them since 1st April 2025 to ensure they remain open for local residents and visitors.
This means Honiton Town Council tax payers face a £40,000 increase in the precept to cover the cost of the toilets.
Independent Thinking
In fairness to Honiton Town Council, the drawn-out negotiations and last-minute pressures from EDDC have made this a difficult decision.
However, I voted against Honiton Town Council taking on the expense of King Street toilets and proposed instead that Honiton should set up a Community Toilet Scheme, a much cheaper alternative that would benefit Honiton taxpayers, residents and businesses.
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About Community Toilet Schemes
Public toilets run by councils are disappearing because they’re expensive to keep clean and safe.
The Community Toilet Scheme (CTS) is a very simple idea to help solve this problem.
Instead of only relying on public toilets, local councils team up with businesses — like cafes, shops, and pubs — who agree to let anyone use their toilets. It’s a win-win: businesses get more visitors, and the public gets more convenient places to go when nature calls.
How a Community Toilet Scheme works
Key features of a community toilet scheme include:
- Businesses such as shops and cafes allow members of the public to use their toilet facilities during opening hours without requiring a purchase.
- Participating businesses display a sticker or sign in their window to indicate their involvement in the scheme.
- Councils provide maps or online lists to help everyone find these toilets easily.
- Councils typically pay participating businesses an annual allowance, which is usually something like £500 to £1,000, towards additional costs of cleaning and consumables
- Some schemes include provisions for disabled access and baby changing facilities
The advantages of the scheme include
- More toilets available in busy places and tourist spots
- Better access for people with disabilities and families needing baby changing facilities
- A boost for local businesses, since people might grab a coffee or snack while they’re there
- Safer toilets, because they’re inside staffed businesses rather than isolated public toilet buildings
Businesses in the scheme have to keep their toilets clean and accessible. Councils check regularly to make sure everything’s up to scratch, and if a business isn’t keeping standards, they can be taken off the list.
The scheme isn’t perfect. Some people say it can’t completely replace proper public toilets, especially in places where there aren’t many participating businesses or during evenings when shops might be closed.
Existing Community Toilet Schemes
Community toilet schemes run by other councils around the UK also include council offices, libraries and leisure centres. Some provide all the public toilets in a town, but others are a way of supplementing the existing purpose built public toilet blocks.
How could a Community Toilet Scheme Work in Honiton?
If you look around Honiton town centre, I’m sure you will spot many potential places that could offer to join a community toilet scheme to supplement the public toilets in Lace Walk car park.
As well as the many pubs and cafes, we also have the Beehive, which includes disabled toilets and a Changing Place.