The Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering has joined forces with the British Toilet Association and Women’s Design Service and written a petition to encourage more public toilets to be made available. The campaign is known as ‘We need the Loo’.
The last decade has seen a 40% decrease in the amount of public toilets. The introduction of community toilets, where businesses let non-customers use their facilities, has been insufficient.
In 2010 the first standard for public toilets was published, BS 6465-4 ‘Code of Practice for the Provision of Public Toilets’. It advises on the number, size and design of facilities that should be available.
Principal Science Officer John Griggs, who chairs the British Standards Committee that produced BS6465, commented, “The decline in public toilets has had a detrimental effect on large sections of the community. It keeps the elderly, disabled and women with babies from venturing outdoors because the facilities they need are either not available or are entirely inadequate. Homeless people and those with bladder problems are also affected and street fouling is on the rise. This is a health hazard as well as an expense in terms of clean-up costs. The only solution is to make the new Standard the basis of a legal requirement so that Councils invest in getting the right facilities.”
You can find the petition online by searching for ‘public toilet petition’ and following the link to the Government’s e-petition website. You can also view their Facebook page by typing the campaign group ‘We need the loo’ into the Facebook search box.
Added John, “Everyone needs to go to the loo every single day which makes it tragic that there is so little provision in town centres and other public places. We need 100,000 signatures to get the issue debated in the House of Commons so please do sign it and do tell your friends.”
For further information on the campaign email weneedtheloo@gmail.com.