The Service Improvement & Project Manager gave a presentation on the Public Toilets facilities consultation.

He said that Swale Borough Council (SBC) currently operated 16 public toilet facilities across the borough and the Council were considering options which would help to reach a balanced budget position. The options included delivering all services in-house, outsourcing, closing all toilets, charging for use of SBC public toilet facilities, transferring toilet facilities to Town or Parish Councils and some other appropriate local organisations or the community toilet scheme model.

SBC proposed a mix of the following options:

·       Carrying out formal negotiations to transfer seven public toilet facilities to town or parish councils, or other appropriate local organisations;

·       closure of three public toilets;

·       introducing a community toilet scheme in areas affected by the closures; and

·       continue to operate the remaining six toilet facilities outsourced.

At this stage SBC would like to hear the views of Swale residents, visitors, community groups and businesses and were carrying out a public consultation which closed on Friday 3 October 2025. The information gathered would be carefully considered by councillors before any final decisions were made. SBC were committed to ensuring that the voices of local communities were heard and reflected in the Council’s decision-making.

The following comments were raised:

·       Question 2 of the online consultation gave frequency of use options for Minster-on-Sea public toilet facilities, however, those toilets had been shut. This could skew the results of the consultation;

·       the Isle of Sheppey was a tourist area and visitors did not want to hunt around to find toilet facilities;

·       the message should be that everyone was welcome, including those with disabilities;

·       the money should be found to keep as many toilet facilities open as possible;

·       how were the costs of running the public toilet facilities calculated?;

·       the ‘Radar’ key at Barton Point toilet facilities had not been working and the facilities had closed earlier than advertised;

·       if a public toilet was closed, there should be more information about alternative facilities on the closure sign;

·       when reporting problems with public toilets, no feedback on the issues raised was provided;

·       how much weighting would the data obtained as part of the consultation process have on the final decision?; and

·       the opening times should not be seasonal as people were increasingly visiting the Isle of Sheppey throughout the year.

The Director of Regeneration & Neighbourhoods and the Service Improvement & Project Manager responded to say that disability and community organisations had been consulted. The point about Minster-on-Sea public toilet being closed would be fed into the consultation, however, there was pre-closure data available. The Isle of Sheppey had the highest investment in new toilet facilities in Swale. The challenge was that there were some toilets that were not in good condition and the consultation was looking at options for them. No decision had been made and the document was an options appraisal. The maintenance of public toilets was contracted out, those costs were used when putting the proposal together. The data would be given equal weighting and would be addressed in the final report.