PUBLIC TOILETS

Nearly a third of Derby's public toilets have been earmarked for closure by the city council. Councillor Joe Naitta, the councillor responsible for leisure and culture in Derby, is proposing to shut 10 of the city's 31 public toilets because, he says, there is not enough money in the budget to make them "fit for purpose". And he said they had become outdated and in some cases, havens for drug users and criminals. Toilets on the hit list include those at the Eagle Market, Markeaton Park Island, the Assembly Rooms and The Spot.

The proposed closures are the result of a review of all toilets in the city, which was started in February under Labour control. A report on the budget, set in March, said that £147,000 could be saved in 2008-9 by closing some toilets in the city and a further £250,000 could be saved the following year by closing more. Now, the Lib Dem council says that, with no money set aside in the budget to improve the toilets, a decision has to be made on closing 10 due to a combination of high maintenance costs, low usage and anti-social behaviour. Other toilets managed by the council would stay open. They include those within Markeaton Park at the Mundy play centre and craft village.

Mr Naitta has given an assurance that toilets at the Assembly Rooms and the Eagle Market will not shut until the bus station at the Riverlights development had been completed. That bus station would have its own toilets, which would be open to the public. Some parts of the country, particularly London boroughs, operate a Community Toilet Scheme. Under this, businesses are paid a small annual fee of between £600 and £1,000 to let members of the public use their toilets free of charge during normal opening hours. Mr Naitta said he would look at that possibility but said there was also the opportunity to get toilets provided as part of new developments, such as shops, in the city centre which would then be open to the public. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Sep/08)

The Government's communities and local government committee has spoken out against the closure of public toilets. MPs on the committee said councils should be forced to draw up annual public toilet strategies to stem a decline in provision and quality. It also warned councils to stop using laws designed to help disabled people as an excuse for tearing down old lavatories. In its recommendations to the Government, it calls for improved signs, with a nationally-recognisable symbol, leaflets and website information about public toilets' locations, opening times and costs. The report concluded that no toilet should be closed unless there was "a strong case for it and after extensive consultation". Councillor Joe Naitta, a member of Derby City Council's cabinet of senior councillors, which took the decision to close 10 public toilets in the city, said he wanted to see toilets looked after properly but that had not been the case.

He said, "The toilets have suffered for years from a lack of investments and now they are in such a poor state that they have to be closed. As far as consultation is concerned, the proposal to close these toilets was something the previous Labour council had drawn up and it had undertaken the consultation." The cabinet will have to look again at the decision after it was referred back when a group of councillors said there was no direct evidence of public consultation. Labour group leader Chris Williamson has been campaigning against the proposed toilet closures in Derby and started the campaign Leave Our Loos Alone.

He said, "I agree with the committee's recommendations. It is true that officers brought a report to us suggesting the closure of toilets but it is something we rejected and said we should be maintaining them and keeping them open. I think closing a public toilet should be a very last resort. Instead of closing them, we wanted to pursue ideas like talking to businesses within the city's business improvement district to see if they would be prepared to invest in the maintenance of public toilets at all. "We have had huge support for the campaign to keep the toilets open and I think this committee's recommendations shows that public toilets are vital to a city." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Oct/08)

Key-operated public toilets are closed at night because drug users, prostitutes and homeless people are using them for sex, drug-taking and a bed for the night. The council has imposed a night-time curfew after cleaning staff complained of finding syringes and other drug paraphernalia in the toilets. Sleeping bags have also been found in in toilets for disabled people and as a result, wheelchair users are complaining they are being deterred from going out in the evenings.

Council access officer Mick Watts, said two out of six accessible toilets in the city centre are padlocked between 6pm and 8am after cleaning staff provided photographic evidence of syringes left by drug users. He said, "I was receiving calls from distressed disabled people who, during the day, were accessing the toilets and finding someone in there doing something that they shouldn't be doing. Mainly the issue was evening use, with people sleeping in them, and at weekends with people using them to inject and leaving all the debris, like needles, all over the floor."

He added, "Two cleaners had been pricked by needles and had to go to hospital for tests, so we decided to close the two worst toilets and give us time to have a think about what measures we could put in place to open them again. We've now found out that this activity has been displaced to another disabled persons toilet." The problem is key copying, said Mr Watts. "Last week, a police officer handed in a key that had been taken off a female drug user in a disabled person's toilet. It was a key that had been cut."

Britain’s public toilets may never be the same again, thanks to the British Toilet Association, a campaign body, which aims to improve things for anyone caught short when not at home. “For too long visitors to Britain, not to mention travellers from within the UK, have put up with poor quality public toilets”, says Association Director Richard Chisnell.“ And with the closure of nearly a quarter of all public toilets provided by Local Authorities over the last three years, it’s time for action”.

Legislation will be sought covering the provision of an adequate number of public toilets by Local Authorities (there is none at present) and the campaign will also seek to eradicate problems associated with various types of social misuse in public toilets, now out of control in many parts of Britain. The BTA will also ensure there are enough facilities for women, in relation to men and encourage proper provision for toilet users with special needs, such as parents with young children, wheelchair users and people with various medical conditions.

The Conservative Party has sided with the Government in refusing to consider the introduction of a statutory framework for the provision of public toilets by local authorities. Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government, refused to accept that without proper provision legislation, public toilets in Britain will continue to decline and, in many areas, disappear altogether. He expressed the view, already firmly held by the Government, that local authorities should provide public toilets (along with other local community public services) in line with the expectations and needs of local residents and visitors.

Local ratepayers should react strongly, via the ballot box, where Councillors take actions which are against the wishes of their communities. This had already happened in Shepway, one of five Councils capped by the Government, who have been forced by public opinion to keep toilets open. With so much concern already being expressed about levels of cleanliness in hospitals and town centres, public toilets need to be managed more effectively, to ensure Britain’s reputation as a clean, safe country to visit, is not further jeopardised.

The British Toilet Association is campaigning to halt the decline in the numbers of public toilets available to residents and visitors and to raise standards of provision and cleanliness in all ‘away from home’ toilets. “Government policy appears to be encouraging local authorities to squeeze out ‘discretionary’ public services”, quotes BTA Director, Richard Chisnell. “With no legal obligation to provide any public toilets, coupled with the costs required to bring outdated toilets up to a DDA compliant standard, many Authorities are resorting to major closure programmes."

He added, "The BTA believes that local authorities should have a statutory obligation to draw up a public toilet provision strategy, within their area, which could include partnerships with other (commercial) providers. Toileting is an everyday, basic, human necessity and requires a higher management profile everywhere.” (Source: British Toilet Association)

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