Plans to lease the public toilets at Winchelsea Beach as a sauna have fallen through after a business withdrew its offer. On Monday July 21, Rother District Council’s cabinet met to discuss proposals to rent out the building in the face of strong local opposition.
Cabinet members had authorised officers to lease the toilet (and one on Gammons Way in Sedlescombe) to private businesses last month, alongside 10 other public conveniences around the district.
These include proposals for the toilets in the Gun Garden and the Strand to be partly turned into coffee shops, with the building on Rye Salts refigured as a cycle hub. All the new leases require retaining at least one publicly-accessible toilet alongside their new business.
The Winchelsea Beach and the Gammons Way proposals had proven to be the most controversial, as Icklesham and Sedlescombe’s parish councils had each previously expressed an interest in taking over the freeholds of the buildings (and continuing to run them solely as public toilets).
Concerns from the parish councils prompted call-in requests from local councillors, which eventually led to the matter being referred back to cabinet for further discussion. However, as the meeting began, cabinet members were informed the businesses had withdrawn their offers.
Joe Powell, the council’s head of housing and strategic assets, said: “It so happens that the two sites in question before you today have independently made a decision to remove their interest in the properties, due in large part to the level of opposition and the attention, I suppose, that has been drawn to it and what they perceived as a potential adverse effect on their future businesses and business investment."
He went on to say one of these operators had also withdrawn their offer to lease out a toilet building in Sidley. As a result, the council will only be pursuing lease arrangements for nine of the 12 buildings originally agreed.
Cllr Christine Bayliss, cabinet member for regeneration and economic development, expressed her support for this process continuing. “There will be an opportunity to voice any local concerns at a planning application going forward. I do think the endgame here is really good. The businesses must keep a public convenience open. They will be there most of the time operating their businesses while these toilets are open, so they are less likely to be vandalised and damaged. I think this seriously could be a win, win, win. A win for businesses, a win for us and a win for the local community.”
Cllr Bayliss, among other cabinet members, also stressed how officers had reached the view the original decision had been “policy compliant”.
In response to further questions, Joe Powell told cabinet members that the businesses’ decision to withdraw meant it was “more likely” the parish councils’ expressions of interest would be considered at a later date. He also stressed any such decision would need to follow the correct process which currently exempts the sale of any council assets that are "income-generating or are actively being considered for income generation."
The new leases in Rye could begin in September this year, with the toilets closed to allow building work. No commercial bids were received for the toilets in the centre of Winchelsea.
