‘Toilets going to waste – London’s public loos are being flushed away’ has found that the number of toilets open for more than 12 hours a day has decreased by half since 1995 causing severe difficulties for thousands of elderly or incontinent people or those with young children.
Greens believe all levels of government should act to reverse this decline making good toilet provision a statutory requirement.
"In many parts of London the only option for people is the less civilised one. Our streets are becoming an urban toilet this is not befitting an image of London as a world class city," said Noel Lynch, Green Party Member of the London Assembly who commissioned the report.
Where toilets do exist they are often in an appalling state of repair or are inaccessible to many due to their positioning.
Often toilets are located down steep fights of stairs or are lacking the space to make them a feasible option for disabled people.
Greens want to see local councils putting money into new toilets that are accessible to all members of the public.
"Poor toilet provision is an inconvenience for anyone but it is an issue of discrimination for all those people who cannot gain access to toilets due to thoughtless positioning.
I have heard from lots of people who’s lives are restricted by the lack of toilets in London," said Noel.
In order to halt the trend in declining numbers of public loos the report makes the following recommendations:
The government should place councils under a legal duty to provide good toilets.
The mayor should ensure that all the spaces in his 100 Public Spaces Programme have well-equipped, accessible toilets.
Boroughs should identify those areas that need the new or refurbished toilets and embark on a 5-year programme to re-open, re-furbish or install new toilets.
Boroughs should ensure that new developments include good quality toilets and secure agreements with the owners of shops, pubs etc to make their toilets open to the public in return for council sponsored cleaning.
A copy of the report is available from Orla Hurst on orla.hurst@london.gov.uk or 020 7983 4411
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