I have just come across an article in the Bournemouth Echo describing the council’s attempt to replace many (if not all) of the public toilets with ‘community toilets.’
To say that the idea hasn’t been welcomed is an understatement.
Read more about the proposal and people’s views on it.
Some good news for a change :
At least one of the three disused public toilets in Banff could be reopened under the control of a local community group.
13 new toilets in the Huntingdon area have been added to my database today.
A recent article in the Braintree & Witham Times features a young father who went shopping with his one year old daughter, but was unable to use the public toilets as he couldn’t get her pushchair inside with him.
You can’t just leave your child outside while you pop in for a quick visit, so what do you do? The man in question simply walked back to his car and drove home. But what would he have done if he’d arrived by bus?
It’s easy to forget that men often do go shopping with their children in tow, and this should be kept in mind for all new builds of toilets (if there ever are any).
He has started his own campaign on Facebook for parent and child public toilets with baby changing facilities, so if any of you feel like signing his petition his name is Malcolm Featonby.
It’s Sunday, but I’m still working, and today I added 13 public toilets in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, and 15 in Southend-on-Sea.
Today I added (just) 3 toilets in Northampton and 5 in North Dorset to my database.
The public toilets in Watton in Thetford, Norfolk have been reopened after a £100,000 re-vamp.
The refurbishment was funded using part of the £275,000 given to Watton Town Council by Breckland Council when the district authority transferred ownership of the facilities to the town in May last year. Running costs are to be funded from the interest of the remaining £175,000 invested in bonds.
Whilst this is a huge investment in one public toilet building, the council are to be applauded for paying money towards what is an essential service every town should offer.
If only more councils could be persuaded to do the same.
I know which I would have put my money on - and I bet you would have done too. But hey the answer is, your mobile phone!
Apparently toilets are fairly cold in general, don’t come into contact with much of your body (really) and are usually bleached every so often.
But when did you last clean your mobile phone?
Think about it:
Hardly surprising that they are breeding places for germs then is it?
My advice is to get some antibacterial wipes and hope the screen doesn’t mist up when you use them.
Read more about dirty mobile phones
In April this year (2009) Gwynedd County Council will close more than a fifth of the county’s 95 public loos. 12 more will have their opening hours reduced to Summer-time opening only.
Apparently this decision will save the council around £133,000!
Lots of councils responsible for areas popular with tourists, have a policy of closing some of their toilets during the winter months. This is a cost cutting exercise which in in Orcombe Point near Exmouth in Devon has had a backlash when a councillor witnessed some holidaymakers urinating outside toilets which had been closed at the end of September.
Last year Cllr Ken Harper blasted the district council’s cost-cutting policy of closing some public toilets in September. He said that East Devon District Council closed some beachfront toilets between September and April - but that over the past couple of years the good weather had lasted into October, effectively extending the holiday season.
He said that it was essential that in a holiday town, with Easter this year (2008) in March that toilets needed to be open or tourists would not come back.
He said: “You can’t offer a facility then close it in their faces - and there were two others closed.”
The District Council said that they didn’t have the resources to fund the longer opening times, but I would love to know how much it costs to keep a loo open for a month.
Let’s see:
What else?
Maybe a member of staff to lock and unlock the building as part of their normal duties, so not much extra cost there?
I’d love someone to tell me how much it really costs to keep toilets open and give me a breakdown of the expenses. Council’s always blame excessive costs for closures, but how are the ‘excessive costs’ made up.
Does anyone know?