Ceredigion council says it is in dialogue with town and community councils throughout the county over the future of public toilets.

The price of spending a penny at public toilets across the county doubled earlier this year to 40p, which Ceredigion County Council says has raised £80,000.

But the cost of keeping more than 30 toilets open across the county is around £400,000 a year.

Asked by the Cambrian News what the current situation was with loos in Ceredigion, a council spokesperson said: “The council’s Public Toilet Strategy included actions improve the financial sustainability of providing toilets in the county.

“These included implementing charges to use toilets, working with communities to maintain toilets, to work with the private sector to improve access to existing toilets and enhance provision through new developments.

“The overall cost of providing public toilets is around £400k a year. The introduction of entry fees has raised £80k towards these costs.

“The council has been engaging with town and community councils to see whether they will take on the responsibility for running toilets located in their area. In most cases, the response has been positive with several service level agreements or leases are being progressed to keep toilets open in the county.

“Unfortunately, vandalism is an issue in some locations and that adds to costs as well as leading to temporary closures.

“Ideally, the council would like to reach agreements with all relevant town and community councils to keep toilets open.”

Aberystwyth Town Council has launched a public consultation asking town residents if they would be prepared to pay more in council tax to keep the loos open.

The consultation says: “It is estimated, from 2024-25 figures provided by Ceredigion County Council, that two toilets (the Castle & Park Avenue) will cost a combined net amount of £40,000 per annum, including cleaning staff, materials, maintenance and vandalism repairs.

“This represents an approximately 6.09% increase to our budget, or a £9.50 per annum increase to our portion of the Council Tax (“The Precept”) paid by a Band D property (based on 2025-26 figures).

“Based on our current draft budget (which is subject to change) for next year, 2026-27, without the transfer of public toilets our portion of the Council Tax (“The Precept”) will increase by just 1.19%.

“Because this is such a significant undertaking, Aberystwyth Town Council would like to hear your views to help us decide on the future of Aberystwyth’s public toilets.”

Aberystwyth Town Council added: “This consultation is to gather the opinions of, and a chance to consult with, interested parties regarding the public toilets.

“The decision to take the toilets on, or not, ultimately would rest with your Town Councillors. We encourage you to contact them if you have any particular points not captured in this consultation, or if you wish to discuss the matter further.”

In January, Borth Community Council decided to “uphold human dignity” and “maintain the village’s blue flag status” by keeping one of the two toilet blocks open, raising council tax by around 15p.