Closing public toilets would hit council finances further, says campaigner

Campaigners fighting to keep public toilets open across Brighton and Hove reminded councillors of how closures would affect various groups – as well as the council’s finances.

Brighton and Hove City Council has backtracked on a plan to save £300,000 from next year’s budget by closing 18 public toilets, mainly in parks.

Instead, the toilets budget is due to rise from £900,000 to £1.3 million.

The council had been trying to close a £21 million hole in the budget but this has since been reduced to £14 million.

The council’s Policy and Resources Committee discussed proposed cuts at a meeting at Hove Town Hall yesterday (Thursday 9 February).

But before the debate got under way, two petitioners reminded the committee of how closures would affect vulnerable people and chastised the council for lack of consultation. Their petitions were signed by more than 13,000 people.

One of the petitioners, Adam Penwarden, whose petition included 5,223 names, said that it was the third-highest number of signatures for any petition on the council’s website.

Mr Penwarden, a co-director of Preston Park parkrun, criticised the council for failing to consult the public and businesses who would suffer without public toilets.

He said: “It is demonstrably true that closing public toilets has a disproportionate impact on women, on older people, on children, on people with disabilities and people with long-term health conditions. The original report failed to address these impacts in any meaningful way.

“The report also failed to take into account the financial consequences of closure. A number of cafés which pay rent to the council would have to close as they would no longer have access to toilets for their staff.

“Businesses such as Preston Park Soccer School, which rent pitches from the council, would no longer have access to toilets for the children who attend. I am sure there are other examples.

“The report also failed to consider the impact on community organisations like parkrun. Parkrun is entirely run by volunteers, and we actively encourage participation from people of all ages and all abilities.

“In the last year, 26,000 people came to parkrun in Preston Park. Of these, 43 per cent are women and 41 per cent are either under 18 or over 55. Without access to public toilets, these numbers would look very different.

Julia Claxton set up her petition on the Change.org website, saying that the council website had proved difficult to access. Hers attracted almost 8,400 signatures of support.

She said: “The visitor economy is likely to be badly affected if the city gets a reputation for lack of cleanliness and what are, basically, essential facilities.

“It is a question of simple hygiene – we’ve been experiencing a pandemic that has made us all more aware of the need to keep high hygiene standards and cuts to public toilet facilities are not in keeping with this.

“One only had to walk along the prom last summer to see from the queues that existing facilities were already inadequate for visitor numbers.

“There are sadly already enough anti-socially minded people who can make areas of the city and seafront reek, particularly in the summer months, by indiscriminate urinating, and in some cases defecating, in inappropriate places without adding to their number those with a desperate need to use facilities that no longer exist.”

The Green leader of the council Phélim Mac Cafferty said that as many toilets as possible would open in the spring.

He told the petitioners that more investment was planned to improve the existing toilets and a business plan would safeguard their future.

Councillor Mac Cafferty said: “I could not agree more with what so many people have been saying. Public toilets are a basic service that people across Brighton and Hove depend on every day.

“Thanks to the joint efforts of the people who have raised this with us – residents, officers and councillors – we’re proposing more funding for public toilets to keep as many of them open as possible.”

Recruitment for seasonal staff is due to start by the end of February.

The annual “budget council” meeting is due to start at 4.30pm on Thursday 23 February at Hove Town Hall and is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.