Fury as council plots £70k toilet tax in UK seaside city | UK | News
Plans to impose a toilet tax on public facilities in a UK seaside town have sparked outrage among residents and campaigners. Labour-controlled Brighton and Hove Council this week outlined budget proposals that would introduce 50p charges for five toilets on the Sussex city’s waterfront. Deputy leader Jacob Taylor said the plans were limited to toilets in the “really high volume city centre” and promised to use the profits to fund capital costs.
But the local government’s Conservative group hit out at the move, accusing Labor of “battling residents left and right”. Brighton and Hove News. Conservative council leader Alistair McNair said: “Just as shops and businesses are really struggling with national insurance, a cost of living crisis and exorbitant car parks on the rise, Labor is introducing a charge that will hit shoppers but more importantly in this case residents and disabled people [and] “It will affect the daily lives of those in poor health and their families.”
He added: “It may only be 50p initially but like other taxes and fees in this city it will rise rapidly.
“It’s one more thing people need to think about. And it’s one more thing that will discourage people from coming here.”
Youth Council member Jasmin Oquosa-Withers also criticized the toilet tax proposal, arguing it would disadvantage people with “protected characteristics”.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “How was this flat rate justified for everyone, given that it would disproportionately affect people with protected characteristics, pregnancy, menopause, menstruation and any medical reason that causes people to go to the toilet more?”
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The council’s own “equality impact assessment” flagged similar concerns, warning that the plan “could have a disproportionate impact on disabled people, children, older people, the homeless and general accessibility”.
The introduction of 50p charges at five seaside toilets – Dalston’s Bastion, the Colonnade, West Pier Arches and Shelter Hall in Brighton and the King’s Esplanade in Hove – could generate up to £70,000 a year for the local authority.
Mr Taylor said all other council-run toilets would remain free, while other public facilities, including those in libraries, could be promoted to the public through shared toilet schemes, including “Use Our Toilet”.
Brighton and Hove City Council is expected to vote on the proposals at its annual budget meeting on February 26.
