£18 to spend a penny...that’s what under-used ‘superloo’ is costing Hyndburn Council

2:34pm Thursday 2nd August 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Emma Cruces, Reporter

FEW CUSTOMERS The ‘superloo’ FEW CUSTOMERS The ‘superloo’

A ‘SUPERLOO’ toilet which has cost a council £18 every time it has been used in the past year is to be removed.

But Hyndburn Council will have to pay £100,000 to break the contract with the providers of the self cleaning unisex cubicle in Accrington Town Centre.

The toilet has been used 1,520 times in the past year, which at 20p a go generated £304 income for Hyndburn Council.

However as it costs the council £28,245 in annual rental costs, each visit to spend a penny has actually costs the authority £18.38.

To add to the costs, the council is locked into a contract with the makers of the Universal SuperLoo, JC Decaux.

Giving 12 months notice and paying a termination fee, and paying to have the toilet removed, will cost the borough approximately £100,000.

However if they remain in the contract, which runs until 2023, the toilet will cost them approximately £301,530 in rental costs.

Councillors voted at yesterday’s meeting to terminate the contract and have the loo removed.

Leader of the opposition, Peter Britcliffe said: “There’s been some awful bad management of this issue. The contract shouldn’t be so expensive to get out of and now tax payers have to pick up the tab - not to spend a penny.” A report before councillors said that with making savings a priority for the council, Peel Street toilets, and Accrington Market Hall toilets gave adequate provision for shoppers in the borough The superloo was also said to attract “an undesirable element” with the cubicle being used for needle use or as a screen to publically urinate behind the unit.

It has also been out of order on numerous occasions in recent months.

That was because the water supply was inadvertently switched off for weeks at a time.

The council did not receive a single complaint from members of the public, when it was out of use.

Comments(18)

alphadelta says...
3:00pm Thu 2 Aug 12

At £28,245 annual rental, it would need to be used 386 times a day - every 3.7 minutes - on average, just to break even. Did anyone ever think this was likely?

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AndyW says...
3:06pm Thu 2 Aug 12

Pay me that much a year and I'll happily stand in a booth with a bucket of water and some bog roll, helping people who need 'toiletary relief'...

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ossy says...
4:00pm Thu 2 Aug 12

Once again the Council wasting the council tax payers money.

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mrdd186 says...
4:21pm Thu 2 Aug 12

alphadelta wrote:
At £28,245 annual rental, it would need to be used 386 times a day - every 3.7 minutes - on average, just to break even. Did anyone ever think this was likely?
this is basic maths but the weight of the brown envelope must of broke the calculator.

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workaholic says...
5:21pm Thu 2 Aug 12

It was cheaper to pay the old-bills wages whilst they staked out the 'cottages' to catch the gays at it !

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Just Dennis says...
5:24pm Thu 2 Aug 12

Stand up the person responsible for this "mess"
Why does a head or heads not roll.
Name names and sack those guilty - why protect them?

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Deadwoodchamps says...
6:03pm Thu 2 Aug 12

alphadelta wrote:
At £28,245 annual rental, it would need to be used 386 times a day - every 3.7 minutes - on average, just to break even. Did anyone ever think this was likely?
As every tax payer knows, if someone gives you a bag of money to spend, you spend it without any thought on anything AND everything..........
.. when it's not your own money you are spending!! Councils are World champs at spending public money........ it's a never ending pot!!

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Deadwoodchamps says...
6:07pm Thu 2 Aug 12

Ps. Now that's what i call taking the PI$$!!

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Scooby says...
6:07pm Thu 2 Aug 12

It always baffled me that it was even there, when right behind it is a normal toilet block.

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accy lad and proud says...
6:08pm Thu 2 Aug 12

Someone is Proper taking the Pith here. The clowns in charge of the purse strings couldn't run a Pith up in a brewery. They really should be named and shamed. This is an absolute disgrace, a total miss-use of public funds sack the lot of them !!!!!!!!!!

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Venomp says...
6:41pm Thu 2 Aug 12

I would better transform this sh*t hole town centre.

I would build a Mall

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Your ferret stinks says...
7:00pm Thu 2 Aug 12

Name and shame whoever singed this contract!
Even darwen got rid of theirs?

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peely says...
11:23pm Thu 2 Aug 12

Somebody must have got a massive bung for signing this contract - name and shame it is after all taxpayers money !

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happycyclist says...
8:57am Fri 3 Aug 12

Disgraceful waste of public money.

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ossym says...
10:39am Fri 3 Aug 12

peely wrote:
Somebody must have got a massive bung for signing this contract - name and shame it is after all taxpayers money !
"However as it costs the council £28,245 in annual rental costs" !!!!!!

Never seen it, but how can the rental costs be this much???

For a prefab unit cant see it costing half that to make it.
£100,000 to terminate less one years rent (£100000-£28245 =) £72,000 to remove and make good.
Any reasonable person has to beleive this is either gross negligence or corrupt.
Even the council cannot be employing people that are that stupid.

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ky_uk1982 says...
10:59am Fri 3 Aug 12

Lets face it accrinton has become one big "superloo" the town is riddled with bad council spending to be honest apart from the market and the bus station i cant remember the last decent decision that came outta there heads ...... If you ask me the council is the problem in that town. when i was younger accrington was a nice place now when someone says accrington i think "charity & pound shops. sorry for deferring from the original subject, that "superloo" would have been used more on church street, but no the council would rather let people pee on the church or in the red phone box.... i would want a jab from my doctor after using that phone !

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nonjob says...
8:52pm Fri 3 Aug 12

The halfwits at Hyndburn council are flushing tax payers’ money away!

This story is incredible. Utterly mind-blowing incompetence.

Anyone paying a big, fat council tax bill?

This article inspired my latest blog.

w w w.nonjob.tumblr.com

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arielhard says...
11:06pm Fri 3 Aug 12

in answer to ky_uk1982 comments i totally agree with everything you have said i have lived here all my life and this town has certainly gone to the dogs, all the council do is spend our money put us in debt . yes accrington used to be a good town with plenty of decent shops, now pound and charity shops. if you look round most of the shops are empty. the council have messed up with everything made bad decisions leaving them in debt them expect the public to pay for their mistakes. Super loo i don't think so why did not just leave well alone. accrington is a ghost town and who is to blame HYNDBURN BOROUGH COUNCIL. for high rents on shops high council tax. Now they want the people who work, and are on low income and claim benefits to pay more council tax, whilst reducing their benefits in order to get more money in other words the people who work will be paying for the council's mistakes yet again

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