Tim West Chairman of Lavenham Merchants Guild outside the public toilets.

PUBLIC toilets in a Suffolk tourist hotspot, earmarked for possible closure, could be granted a temporary reprieve under recommendations from Babergh District Council finance chiefs.

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As a cost-saving measure in the face of spending cuts, the council is considering closing some public conveniences at rural sites around the district, including those in the medieval tourist village of Lavenham. Another idea being discussed is to make parish councils responsible for their own toilet blocks.

But in a report to the joint overview and scrutiny committee, the financial planning task group suggested the Lavenham lavatories, and those at Pin Mill, Chelmondiston, should remain open under existing arrangements “pending further review”.

However, the task group would support the closure of any other site where the parish council did not take over management. This would include toilets in Cordell Road and The Green, Long Melford, as well as a second toilet block in Prentice Street, Lavenham. Also facing the axe if local communities do not claim repsonsibility for them are public conveniences near the Red Lion in East Bergholt and at Bristol Hill, Shotley.

Roy Whitworth, chairman of Lavenham Parish Council, said it would take responsibility for the main public lavatories in the
village rather than lose them. The council had discussed the issue with Babergh several times during the past year and would put its proposals for self-management forward early next year, he said.

“We can see where savings can be made, such as turning the lights off in the lavatories over night, which are currently left on,” he added. “We believe we can come up with several cost-saving suggestions that would benefit us if we take the toilets on ourselves.”

Babergh estimates that public conveniences cost the district about £250,000 a year. The authority failed to generate support for a “community toilet operation” where local business owners were encouraged to allow visitors to use their toilets instead of public facilities.

In its budget proposal, Babergh outlined how it could save £50,000 by either closing or offloading public toilets to parish councils.

The council is in “ongoing discussions” with the parishes concerned about the implications of the potential losses and the future costs, should they wish to keep the services on by self-managing.

A Babergh spokesperson also confirmed that no toilet in the district would be permanently shut without the issue being fully debated by councillors.

A final decision on the closures will be made as part of a budget setting meeting next February.