Noel Lynch and Julia Stephenson Green Party Assembly Candidate for West Central London are to launch a new report on the state of London’s public toilets in Portobello Road on Tuesday March 2nd at 2pm.
Julia, celebrity author and journalist said, “No matter what you do or where you go, everyone needs to use public toilets at times. This report shows what a dreadful state London’s public conveniences are in. This is a serious problem and if not addressed could lead to London’s streets becoming a major health hazard.”
London is suffering from a severe shortage of public loos according to a new report issued by the London Assembly Green Party Group. ‘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 whose lives are restricted by the lack of toilets in London," said Noel.
Julia Stephenson concluded, “Obviously, the inhabitants of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea have bladders of steel.”
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 large stores and pubs to make their toilets open to the public in return for council sponsored cleaning.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1. Copies of The Report “Toilets going to Waste” can be obtained from the London Assembly Green Group Nana-Serwa Mancell on 020 7983 4964
2. The British Toilet Association identifies the following main reasons for closure of our public conveniences
* worn out buildings; many of London’s toilets date from Victorian times
* lack of capital funding
* lack of operating funds for day to day maintenance
* no statutory obligation on local authorities to provide public toilets
* social misuse, particularly vandalism
3. Julia Stephenson stood for the Green Party in Kensington and Chelsea in 2000 gaining over 11% of the vote.
4. The elections for the London Assembly and the European Parliament elections will be held on 10th June 2004. The Mayoral elections will also be held on the 10th June. At the last Assembly elections the Greens scored one of their best ever results in the Party’s history, securing 11.1% of the vote across London and winning three seats on the 25-member Assembly.
5. Darren Johnson’s vision for a sustainable Green London can be found on his website www.johnsonformayor.org.uk
ENDS
For further information and interviews contact Penny Kemp 07711 760692