Some people are fouling a stretch of Brighton beach because of a lack of public toilets, councillors were told this week.
Concerned resident Mike Goodrich said that the only public toilets along the Kemp Town seafront were at Peter Pan’s children’s playground – and he said: “They’re not really set up for adult use.”
Mr Goodrich urged Brighton and Hove City Council to consider putting in some toilets between the Palace Pier and the Volk’s Electric Railway station by Brighton Marina.
He said: “That promenade is used a lot and leads to fouling around the place.”
Mr Goodrich raised the issue at a meeting of the full council at Hove Town Hall on Thursday (26 March). He said that the mile-long stretch of seafront had a heavy footfall, especially in the summer.
He asked whether “the council had any plans to build new toilets anywhere along that stretch”?
Labour councillor Tim Rowkins, the council’s cabinet member for net zero and environmental services, said that there were currently no plans to open public toilets along this stretch.
But he said that it could be possible in the future, adding that he recognised that the toilets at Peter Pan’s were “not really suitable for general adult use as you say”.
He said: “We love toilets in this administration. We have 13 reopened, nine refurbished, plus major accessibility improvements.”
He said that fellow councillors Jacob Taylor and Julie Cattell were working on an ambitious plan for the Madeira Terraces, adding: “Our view is that an additional toilet somewhere along that stretch would be a very welcome thing to include.”
He said that the toilets at Black Rock had recently been refurbished as part of a £366,000 project involving the council and Southern Water.
When asked when new toilets might open, Councillor Rowkins said: “While there isn’t a specific timeframe … we would love to put one in there.”
Councillor Rowkins also said that the first phase of a plan to restore the Madeira Terraces, begun in November 2024, was more focused on “getting a stretch restored, signalling to the wider world that that’s the direction of travel”.
He offered to return to this topic as the plan for a second phase of restoration progressed.
The whole of Brighton is a toilet.
WHAT people?
What kind of barbarian craps on the beach for any reason?
Southern Water
Steven Seagul
Probably homeless , who have no access to toilets once they close for the day. Not great for them
Brighton has a distinct lack if toilet facilities.seqfro t churchill square open market the lanes preston park kensingtongardens lewes roadshops.no considerations seem to be given to people withgiven. Health needs I.e.cancer Ibs diverticulitus kidney liver problems diabetics whom all need access quickly to facilities none at racehill or North rd
Elderly incontinent, disabled incontinent and children.
Are the main Colonnade toilets still closed in Madeira Drive? They were closed for more than three weeks owing to a leak according to the sign on them. Surely this leak must have been fixed by now. The city is ridiculously short of public toilets, and most are on the seafront rather than throughout the city. The opening hours are too short as well.
So you must be happy that Labour opened a load of toilets that the Greens closed!
Councillor Rowkins – the councillor responsible for toilets in the city, who could communicate a timeframe for making sure there are toilet facilities in Kemptown, and who could commit funding for it, says:“While there isn’t a specific timeframe … we would love to put one in there.”
He literally is the person responsible, so if he had the political will to do it, he could. If he doesn’t do it he doesn’t have the political will to bother to try. Saying he would like to without acknowledging he is the person who could make it happen is insane!
I imagine there are things like budgetary considerations, workforce, and adding an additional unit to the cleaning and maintenance schedule that have to be thought through first. It’s a perfectly reasonable answer, portfolio member or not.
Benjamin
You’re oversimplifying it—those closures were during massive funding cuts. Labour reopening some is progress, but it’s not the full story. Bit like your ‘spelling doesn’t matter’ line while correcting people… doesn’t quite add up.”