Dartmouth Town Council are proud to be taking a positive approach to the nationwide issue of toilet facilities closing due to budget cuts.

Dartmouth Town Council are committed to offering the residents of Dartmouth, value for money from the funds allocated through the council tax system (IRO £4 per week per household.)

https://www.dartmouthtowncouncil.gov.uk/where-does-your-council-tax-go-to/

The Town Council is proactively using the retained assets to produce income,  so as to offset the cost of council tax, when possible and carefully balancing the needs of the town.

Unfortunately, every now and again, a building can no longer be used in an effective way without the council taxpayer funding the ongoing losses.

This has unfortunately been the case with Ivy Lane, so once the building is sold the Council will follow the provisions set and reuse the money for capital improvement.

The Council would like to provide everything that is asked for by the local people and visitors to the area. In reality to achieve this the Council tax increase would be unachievable and unwelcome by most.

By charging users for things like public WCs, boat storage, tennis, venue hire, the people that use them pay for them, this ongoing cost burden is then not passed on to all the local council taxpayers, and by running them as a breakeven process it becomes a standalone facility for years to come. Rather than the local taxpayer picking up the short fall every year, or as other Councils have done, when the budgets are under pressure, facilities like the WCs are closed permanently to save money.

Dartmouth Town Council do not want to use this model and are therefore, taking this proactive approach to improving the local facilities such as the WCs.

Dartmouth Town Council understand that even though it’s not a legal requirement for a council; by providing WC facilities this will help the local economy and tourism and businesses flourish. They then provide jobs locally, however, the money from tourism does not come back to the council directly as most businesses or properties in Dartmouth (such as those that are classified as Airbnb’s and holiday lets) do not pay council tax, and pay business rates instead, although the majority of business rates are then discounted or reduced to zero. This means that with 51.2% second homes (Source Neighbourhood plan 6.5.15), the 4% rate that Dartmouth town council receives is considerably less than it should be.

It is therefore, really important to understand the value of making up the shortfall by other means than the council taxpayer alone. Dartmouth Town Council really appreciate the additional funds that have historically been provided from Dartmouth Trust, the monies have been used over many years for a variety of projects to improve the town as per the guidelines set out under this agreement.

This is also the thinking behind the Royal Avenue Gardens reconfiguration to incorporate a small lettable unit to help cover some of the annual financial cost of providing the WCs. Subject to planning this money has already been allocated via ear marked reserves.

https://www.dartmouthtowncouncil.gov.uk/press-release-toilet-renovations-in-royal-avenue-gardens/

Dartmouth Green Partnerships have a license and a lease from Dartmouth Town Council to use the land adjacent to and north of the toilet block. Dartmouth Town Council licenses and leases this land to Dartmouth Green Partnerships for just £2.00 per annum and provides water and electricity free of charge. The great work that Dartmouth Green Partnerships does for the town is widely recognised and appreciated. The refurbishment and extension of the toilet block will not encroach on the land that Dartmouth Green Partnerships license.

This project is similar in size to the previous project that gained permissions in 2021 for the extension to the Visitor Centre to assist tourism.1611/19/FUL(now expired) but also within the Gardens.

Dartmouth Town Council are aware of the importance of the green spaces and the Gardens in general and this was the main driver to taking on the assets in July 2018. https://www.dartmouthtowncouncil.gov.uk/dartmouth-assets-handover-from-south-hams-district-council/

However, the ongoing costs of managing and maintaining a much larger estate now means that the council have to think outside of the box to protect the services we provide.