CAMPAIGNERS seeking to take over West Somerset’s public toilets have been given extra time to sign an agreement with the district council.

The authority’s scrutiny committee was told on Thursday (November 24) that last-minute negotiations had resulted in the December 16 deadline being extended by at least a month.

It was also agreed that the toilets would be available as either leasehold or freehold properties.

Local councils and charitable groups would also be guaranteed £1,000 for each toilet block for legal costs and would be eligible to apply for a grant from the district council’s sustainability fund, which now totals over £60,000.

This fund, originally standing at £40,000, was recently increased by the sale of disused toilets in Dunster.

The special meeting had been called because of criticism of the way West Somerset Council was handling the disposal of toilets due to be closed next March.

Speakers in the public gallery complained about the short notice for the December 16 deadline to sign a ‘heads of terms agreement’, and the disparity between some councils being offered the leasehold of the toilets and others the freehold. They also complained about the lack of information and guidance.

The scrutiny committee unanimously supported a recommendation by the chairman, Cllr Peter Murphy, that the council “urgently review the support offered to parish councils and the achievability of agreed budget savings”.

A written response to the criticisms, by asset manager Tim Child, said that initial discussions had been overseen by Cllr Martin Dewdney, leader for environment, but as there were financial and asset management considerations, he was now working alongside Cllr Mandy Chilcott, responsible for resources.

Representing Watchet, town Cllr John Irven expressed his council’s dissatisfaction with the handling of the issue and called for the deadlines to make a capital bid and sign an agreement to be deferred.

“It took six months to obtain correct costs from your portfolio holder because operating costs and business rates were wrong - we had difficulty getting you to accept this,” he said.

“By the end of October, you finally confirmed your initial £22,000 per annum estimate for costs was actually now £12,000, a potentially affordable solution.”

However, said Cllr Irven, his council was subsequently told that cleaning costs had increased 2.8 times, taking total costs back over the £22,000 mark “which we deem unaffordable”.

Watchet had only been offered a lease, with a three-year break clause, which meant “no guarantee for our investment. We want a freehold option”.

He called the timing stipulation “unacceptable”, but said a last-minute meeting with Cllrs Chilcott and Dewdney and Tim Child had been “more constructive” with “potential flexibility identified”.