Dufton Public Conveniences
You may be aware that Eden District Council (EDC) is again proposing to end the funding of the public conveniences in the village, this time from the end of March 2012.
The Parish Council has set up a small working group to:
(i) Oppose the closure and encourage the EDC to retain the toilets
(ii) Prepare a business plan so that the toilets can be run locally probably under the auspices of the Parish Council.
Both pieces of work will be carried out. We have already had some support from Rory Stewart MP who has written:
‘I do believe that Dufton occupies a unique position within our region as a particularly popular walking destination, and do not think that the same 'one size fits all' prescription can be applied universally to all the proposed closures -
such as Threkeld, Glenridding or Shap. Cuts such as the ones we are
experiencing now need to achieve an important balance; in the case of
Dufton, the potential loss of income from tourism and damage to
businesses must be weighed up against the cost of running this
facility.’
However it is accepted that EDC is in some difficulty with the cuts imposed upon it and so the working party is looking at the costs of running the toilets, and then at how it might be funded.
What we need to do:
Many people have expressed views very strongly about the need to retain the toilets. The Group needs quotes and to be able to reflect the strength of opinion so please send your views, ideas, comments or questions to: duftontoilets@gmail.com This email address has been set up to collect comments from the village and will be looked at and responded to daily.
The Working Party Members are:
Morgan Donnelly
Gillian Bryan
Barbara Scurr
Richard Scurr
Caite Guest
Ron Barker
Kevin Brighurst
David Carter.
The Working Group will keep you up to date through this web site following the next meeting which is on February 28th 2011