Progress on works for Castle Green and Canon Street toilets in Taunton

The decision was taken at a full council meeting held on Tuesday, May 21, when councillors were provided with an update on the process of the project to overhaul the public toilets at Castle Green and Canon Street.

This update included detailed plans of how upgrades to the toilets could look and the benefits of these upgrades were detailed.

They resolved to appoint a surveyor to move this work forward.

A photo showing what the toilets on Castle Green could look like (Image: Taunton Town Council)

A public document read: “Taunton Town Council’s public conveniences are in need of an upgrade.

“Following an engagement exercise in late 2023, where we had approximately 250 responses from the public, we know our public toilets are a key area of concern for our residents.

“A second engagement exercise was carried out in May 2024, specifically focussed around Castle Green, in which 97 per cent of respondents said Castle Green Public Conveniences are in need of an upgrade.

“Looking at the footfall figures we have available, Castle Green and Canon Street are the two of the most used facilities in our care.

“They are also regularly reported as having issues. We have therefore decided to focus our attention here initially, with further sites to be upgraded in the coming years.”

Another photo showing how the toilets could look like after the upgrade (Image: Taunton Town Council)

The document also explained that a budget of £300,000 was set for 2024/2025 toilet upgrades at January full council, which is how this project will be funded.

A Community Ownership Fund grant application is currently in progress and, should this be successful, a further £50,000 will be available for work on Castle Green toilets.

Cllr Federica Smith-Roberts said: “The public toilets mean a lot to our residents. We had lots of correspondence from residents when we launched the consultations.

“The upgrade will enable us to attract tourists and to help residents as they go by their daily lives.”

Councillors are also considering providing temporary toilets while the works are being carried out.

The public town council document also read: "All surveyors that have been shortlisted are available to start work within one to two weeks of being appointed.

“Contractors have estimated the work should take approximately six to eight weeks per site to complete.”