HOW much are you willing to pay to spend a penny?

This is the question Wiveliscombe residents will be asked at a town meeting on Monday night as the council look at options for providing public toilets in the face of government cuts.

Taunton Deane Borough Council currently run the toilets but have been planning to close them for the past two years but because district and town councillors and residents this was delayed.

However Taunton Deane have now set a date of March 31 this year for closing the toilets, giving the town council a limited amount of time to sort out a contingency plan.

The council has produced a report with three options and the public can have their say at the meeting this Monday night at Wiveliscombe Primary School at 7pm.

The first option on the report is for the council to take freehold of the property for a nominal fee from Taunton Deane Council with the Town Council also taking on running costs.

TDBC would contribute a one-off grant of £10,562 on the condition that is the building is sold for anything other than community use then they would receive 50 per cent of the proceeds.

The town council say that the toilet is need of a major refurbishment which will cost between £12,000 and £20,000 and will also cost £10,000 a year in running costs.

The council say they would need to put up their 2017/18 precept by a minimum £10,000 to cover costs, which equates to around £13 a year for Band D taxpayers.

A second option is to enter a full repairing lease with TDBC with Wiveliscombe Town Council taking on the running costs. TDBC would also give the one-off £10,542 grant in this option.

The third option on the report is to let the toilets close and consider alternative ways to provide public toilets via agreements with public services like the Community Centre, Wiveliscombe House and the Library.

This sort of meeting could become commonplace across West Somerset in the coming months as West Somerset District Council have said they will be closing public toilets unless other organisations can be found to run them.