Shutting down public toilets.

[Shallwedancetomojito]

Is there really any need for this?

Councils in the UK are shutting down public toilets, shops and dept stores and cafes are going to be closing there's too, even cinemas.

I usually need the toilet as soon as I leave the house.

What about mothers with young children or people with Ibs, just for starters?

I guess it would be OK for male urinal : quick shake , wash hands and dry them in ones of those Dyson air dryers but female kharzi would need to be cleaned after every use. Unless you had disposable paper bog-seat "protectors". They may start charging if they have to provide Covid safe penny spending.

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Well I do pay my council tax, so if I go into town again I'll be popping into the council to use their toilet.
"
I did that a couple of years ago in barnard Castle of all places. We'd looked round the castle, been for lunch in a cafe without toilets and I was desperate. It's pretty awful for public loos but there's a council building next to the castle

So many people don't realise Council Tax is not a service charge and does not entitle you to receive any services. It's simply a tax.

I have a radar key for both myself and DD’s medical conditions, most accessible toilets also closed as well so although we are allowed to venture further out now we still can’t.

I was shopping yesterday and noticed how many customers were asking for toilets. It's going to be a real dealbreaker in terms of whether people are happy to go out shopping again. I'd brought an elderly relative for a medical procedure in a hospital 70miles away and couldn't enter the hospital with him so no toilet stop there. Two stores I went to hadn't opened their toilets as they were attached to their coffee shops. I finally got to use a toilet 7 hours after leaving home.

This is one of the things that will stop me from getting out and about. Even in big attractions like gardens, they seem to be limiting the opening of toilets. I can’t imagine going to beaches and parks etc with no facilities. It must be grim. Surely with the focus on washing hands, you’d want people to be using sinks before eating etc.

This is one of the things that will stop me from getting out and about

Absolutely

No cafe
No pub
No restaurant
No shopping trips
No day trips
No nothing

And I appreciate that its more than likely covid related and will hopefully change when this is over...but this won’t be over for quite a while

Surely the solution is to start charging a small fee and clean them regularly? No public loos makes it really difficult to go anywhere - if they want the economy to get moving they need to make sure people can spend time at the shops etc.

It's disgusting, a health hazard. Our parks stink of wee already 😡

This is really horrible for many many people & needs to be addressed.

In the large store I work in we need to keep ours just for staff use now, closed to the public

They are so much cleaner!

Staff need to have somewhere to go safely to wash hands. Dirty customer habits would mean we couldn’t have that

I'm just not venturing too far from home now. The photos of crowds on certain beaches made me shudder, as I know for a fact that there were no toilets available in the vicinity. People were just relieving themselves in the sand dunes, or in their own cold boxes which they then left behind.

Very little has been open in our tiny city centre (one of the smallest cities in the U.K.) during lockdown. But toilets on the car park nearest Iceland & B&M are open. The ones further away are not. But some are. That’s sensible I think.

I finally got to use a toilet 7 hours after leaving home

Potential possible kidney infections = more pressure on the NHS as well as our bladders.

I dont think the Government realize the non essential stores big re opening is not going to be the big success they think it is despite their fanfare about it. If people cant go to the loo when they need to they wont shop.

The Government are cretins.

It's crazy to think that we live in such a litigious society that councils and businesses have been forced to close basic toiletting facilities because a minority seek to look to financially gain from a pandemic.

I rent some commercial property and I had to go back and unlock it last weekend. There was quite a bit of human excrement along the side of the building and a definite smell of piss. We have a blue bin, which turned out to be full of clinical waste and dirty tissues.

I’m afraid I’m not cleaning up the shit.

It's crazy to think that we live in such a litigious society that councils and businesses have been forced to close basic toiletting facilities because a minority seek to look to financially gain from a pandemic
It’s not just that. If we (the council) reopen the loos then we are required to pay for signage and floor markings, cleaning and hygiene supplies. We can’t afford it so they’re closed. This obviously varies between councils depending how much money they have to cover these sort of expenses.

It's crazy to think that we live in such a litigious society that councils and businesses have been forced to close basic toiletting facilities because a minority seek to look to financially gain from a pandemic
It’s not just that. If we (the council) reopen the loos then we are required to pay for signage and floor markings, cleaning and hygiene supplies. We can’t afford it so they’re closed. This obviously varies between councils depending how much money they have to cover these sort of expenses.

But ultimately why are they required to provide signage etc? Answer: to cover themselves in case people get sick and sue them. Unless people are living in a bubble they shouldn't need constant signs reminding them to keep 2m away from others, wash their hands after using the toilet and not to touch their face etc when they're out and about.

did that a couple of years ago in barnard Castle of all places

Maybe if you had a sight test while you were there you'd have found some public toilets.

I have a shewee.

This is an issue that particular affects women.
Women need safe secure toilets much more than men. Mensruation, urge incontinence, bladder issues etc.
Plan International and Water Aid have identified that the continuing closure of public toilets is retrictive for women.
Maybe Daniel Radcliffe can contribute to these charities?

Biggest danger of virus transfer is saliva and urine. That's why toilets are closed

So many people don't realise Council Tax is not a service charge and does not entitle you to receive any services. It's simply a tax.

Whilst not untrue, the council tax bill does stipulate how much you pay towards fire, police services etc each year, so I think people can be forgiven that a basic need like public toilets should be included in this.

Public toilets would be a huge health hazard (well, more than they usually are.). Are people seriously expecting poverty wage labourers to maintain them during a pandemic? They would have to wear full PPE and clean the entire room after each toilet user. For £8 an hour. Would you do it? Why not?
Plus, the machines that blow the toilets air forcefully to dry hands

I’m staying safe at home, so no need to be in crowds chugging coffee or sauntering into non essential shops.

We haven’t driven anywhere since lockdown started for this reason. We have 4 dc’s and I’d love to take them somewhere different for a walk or to the beach as we’ve only been within an hours walk of our house since march but I refuse to be caught short and have to use public spaces as a toilet - it’s just wrong. Plus I know my dd’s would be highly embarrassed to have to pee down an alley or in a sand dune.

I worry as an op said that councils and shops will use covid as an excuse not to open toilets and save money. The virus isn’t going away. People will always need to use toilets when out and about. What is the answer?