North Yorkshire Council’s plans for so-called ‘double devolution’ have taken a blow after a deal to transfer the management of public toilets in Malton appeared to collapse.
Council chiefs had agreed to offload responsibility for the conveniences to Malton Town Council in what would have been the first transfer of services to a smaller town or parish authority since the unitary council was formed in 2023.
But the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands the deal is at risk of being cancelled amid concerns from the public about the town council’s plans to charge 40p per use of the market place facilities.
The proposal prompted the launch of a ‘free to pee’ campaign by Norton councillor Keane Duncan, with more than 1,500 people signing a petition against the fee.
Speaking at the North Yorkshire Council full council meeting on Wednesday, Cllr Duncan joked that he had recently “spent an unhealthy amount of time outside Malton’s public toilets”.
Cllr Duncan said the town council had agreed to the transfer “behind closed doors and without public consultation”.
But in a statement filled with toilet-related puns, he added: “But they’ve been caught with their trousers down.
“Their secretive plan is circling the drain, with 1,000 residents backing my free-to-pee petition.
“As the town flushes with frustration, the town council is clogged with confusion and ready to U-turn — or perhaps more aptly U-bend. They’re scrambling to wipe away this deal.”
In a question to executive member for corporate services, Heather Phillips, Cllr Duncan added: “Has this toilet mess turned double devolution into double trouble — and a revolution in localism into a local revolt?
“Doesn’t it show that when you try to flush democracy down the pan, you may end up knee-deep in political sewage?”
In response, Cllr Phillips said that while Malton toilets may be a “busted flush” but the authority had double devolution “success stories in the wings”.
The chair of Malton Town Council and the town’s mayor is North Yorkshire Council’s independent member, Councillor Lindsay Burr.
Cllr Phillips said the mayor had taken “a bit of a beasting” after details of the proposed fee for using the toilets emerged.
The executive member added in the response to her Conservative colleague: “I just hope that everybody can show respect and restraint, and that goes to members of the public as well, because it’s a corporate decision made by the town council.
“Therefore, please don’t direct all of your krodha, as it were, at one person.”
Cllr Burr declined to comment on the transfer of the toilets.
It is understood the transfer may be discussed by the town council at its next meeting on July 30.
As part of the deal, the town council would receive a one-off grant of £57,000 from North Yorkshire Council to pay for a refurbishment of the facilities.
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