Agenda item

A verbal update by the Deputy Chief Executive -  Programme Delivery

The Deputy Chief Executive – Programme Delivery provided committee with a brief verbal update in respect of the provision of Public Conveniences within Boston.   Members were reminded that the Council had submitted a bid for Changing Places Toilets in September 2021.  Receipt of the outcome had taken significantly longer than had initially been expected and the brief update was to inform committee of the current position.

The £30million available nationally had been significantly oversubscribed. Lincolnshire had been awarded £860k and the partnership had received £660k with Boston being allocated £210k.

The bid was for the provision of extended disabled facilities at four sites within the town.  Central Park, Bargate Green, Lincoln Lane and St. Botolph’s / Blenkin Memorial Hall for facilities which would contribute significantly to the lives of those with restrictive living ability by providing a much needed facility for use within the town. The units were double the size of standard toilets.

As a result of the funding the Council had options including siting the pods within the facilities at Central Park and Lincoln Lane and having an additional building alongside the sites at Bargate Green and Blenkin Hall.

An independent review would be carried out in the near future to ascertain costs of full refurbishment of the existing sites and also to give advice on the provision of the disabled facilities.

The funding received would not be enough to pay for the disabled facilities at all four sites and the bid had been subject to part match funding by the Council.  Indicative costs per facility were approximately £75000 with match funding for each being approximately £20000.

Once the review had been undertaken a detailed report would be tabled at BTAC to include the cost of refurbishment of the sites and match funding required to progress any provision of the disabled facilities.

Committee comments followed whereby Members were reassured that the disabled pods would only be sited at existing sites and there would be no new site provision of additional toilets.  Reassurance was also provided officers would take the specialist advice on integration of any pods into any existing site.   On questioning how the funding would be affected if the Council only supported two pods, Members were advised that the funding predicated on part contribution from the Council.  Further comment sought possible visual documentation of the proposed pods to enable members to gain a perspective prior to receiving the final report and concern was tabled at the cost of each pod with a Member noted they felt it to be excessive.  The Deputy Chief Executive – Programme Delivery advised he would forward examples of the pods for reference and that the cost included ground works, all facilities and advanced technology within the pods.

The Chairman thanked the Deputy Chief Executive for the update report and confirmed that whilst committee were interested in the provision of the four pods, their final decision would be dependent on the outcomes of the review and also the cost to BTAC for providing the facilities.