I READ with interest Mr Daw’s letter (“Courier”, April 7) regarding his opinions on the future of St Lawrence Green toilets.

I am perplexed as to why Mr Daw, as Chairman of Mid Devon District Council (MDDC), has made no attempt to officially contact the Town Council regarding the issue and instead felt it more appropriate to communicate through your newspaper.

In view of this I would like to clarify a few points:

MDDC owns St Lawrence Green toilets. It was made clear to Crediton Town Council in 2014 that, unless financial assistance was provided for the upkeep of all toilets in Crediton Town, the facilities would face closure or reduced opening hours.

After careful consideration, the Town Council resolved that it could not afford to finance all public conveniences in Crediton and so had to make some very difficult decisions regarding which facilities it deemed most appropriate to support financially and keep open.

The decision to close St Lawrence Green toilets was based on it having no disabled access, being an ongoing nuisance to Queen Elizabeth’s School and the lack of financial support from bus/coach companies and surrounding parishes. (All of whom were contacted prior to the closure and asked if they would be willing to make a significant contribution in order to keep them open. With the exception of a £50 donation from Cheriton Fitzpaine Parish Council all refused.)

In order to keep the remaining public conveniences in Crediton open all year round, the Town Council contributes 100 per cent of the costs, this is approximately £13,000 per annum.

In 2015, the Town Council explored the option of asset transferring the toilet buildings from MDDC with St Lawrence Green toilet building being used by the Town Council as a much-needed storage facility, as it did not have any storage space.

MDDC wanted £7,500 from the Town Council for the St Lawrence Green toilet building.

It also insisted that any transfer would be subject to appropriate legal agreements and it would restrict the use of the buildings via pre-emption clauses.

This meant that St Lawrence Green toilets could only be used as a storage unit and, in the event of a change of use of the buildings, the pre-emption clause would mean the freehold for the property would revert back to MDDC!

A MDDC Officer at the time also advised the Town Council that without these restrictions the valuation sums would increase significantly.

The Town Council objected to the transfer fee and pre-emption clauses however, MDDC were insistent that they remain, consequently no further action was taken.

In early 2017, MDDC Officers informed the Town Clerk of the District Council’s intentions to demolish the St Lawrence Green toilet building.

As the building had become an eyesore, with its boarded-up doors and lack of maintenance, the Town Council supported this course of action.

Clare Dalley

Crediton Town Clerk