Public Toilets
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Dunstable councillors and staff celebrate retaining the loo of the year title. | FLUSHED WITH MORE SUCCESS DUNSTABLE Town Council’s Ashton Square Toilets have again secured the prestigious Platinum Award at the Loo of the Year Award. A spokesman for the Bedfordshire council said it reflected its dedication to maintaining the highest standards in public amenities and underscored a commitment to accessibility, and providing top quality facilities for both residents and visitors. The Loo of the Year Awards is a nationally acclaimed competition that recognises excellence in public washroom facilities. Clerks & Councils Direct, March 2025 |
■ Town councillors formed an orderly queue to reopen refurbished public toilets in the Lower St John’s Hill car park in SEVENOAKS. The Kent town’s Mayor-elect Libby Ancrum cut the ribbon on the unisex toilets, which include disabled access and baby change facilities.
Clerks & Councils Direct, July 2024
FLUSHED WITH SUCCESS
A Suffolk town is feeling flush with success after toilet blocks reopened after several years of closure. The two public conveniences in LOWESTOFT – one in Fen Park and the other in Pakefield Street – have been refurbished by the town council as part of an upgrade programme. Town councillor Elise Youngman performed the openings by cutting ribbons of toilet paper. More than £20,000 was spent on refurbishing the blocks, with a further £7,000 on security fencing.
Clerks & Councils Direct, May 2024
 | PLATINUM AWARD FOR PUBLIC FACILITY DUNSTABLE Town Council has retained the prestigious Platinum Award for Loo of the Year for its Ashton Square Toilets. This achievement reflects the Council’s commitment to providing the highest standards, and dedication to upholding cleanliness, accessibility, and overall excellence of public toilet facilities to its residents and visitors. The Loo of the Year Awards is a nationally recognised competition that celebrates the very best public toilets. It is considered the ‘washroom standard’ and is an established benchmark of washroom provision and compliance with national standards. Ashton Square Toilets offer a welcoming and hygienic environment, accessible to all including disabled access, a free Aunt Flow sanitary dispenser in the women's toilets, accessible children’s steps for the sinks, family toilet seats and baby changing facilities in both female and male toilets. Clerks & Councils Direct, January 2024 |
PAY BY CARD
Visitors caught short in KNUTSFORD, Cheshire, no longer need to worry about not having change to access the public toilets following the installation of card readers to two cubicles. The unisex accessible cubicles, which also include a baby change table, can now be accessed by credit/debit card and contactless payments. This is in addition to access via a RADAR key or coin. “We know that an increasing number of people don’t carry cash so wanted to ensure that accessing our public toilets is easy for everyone who needs to.” said town clerk, Adam Keppel-Green. The Town Council will be reviewing the impact of the card terminals on usage at the toilets and may consider adding terminals to the other cubicles in the future.
Clerks & Councils Direct, July 2023
 | NEW CHANGING PLACES FACILITIES State-of-the-art new Changing Places facilities have been officially opened in Pevensey Bay, while funding has been secured for more in Polegate. WEALDEN District Council, East Sussex, contractors recently installed the new facility next to the existing council-run toilets in the Sea Road Car Park and it was officially opened by council dignitaries on 13 March. More than £78,000 was secured by the council from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ Changing Places Fund for the facility, which will offer residents and visitors a completely accessible Changing Places toilet, designed to provide sufficient space and equipment for people who are not able to use the toilet independently. The new unit offers a height adjustable changing bench, a peninsular toilet, and a ceiling hoist in addition to space for carers. Pictured above are dignitaries from Eastbourne Access Group, Wealden District Council and Pevensey Parish Council. Clerks & Councils Direct, May 2023 |
GRANTS FOR DISABLED TOILETS
From refurbishments to disabled toilet facilities to providing basketball kits, WEYMOUTH Town Council has awarded just over £50,000 to community, voluntary and charitable organisations for various projects benefitting Weymouth residents. Projects that benefitted from grant funding over the last year include disabled toilet improvements at the bowls club; warm welcome facilities for the homeless; rowing, basketball and sailing clubs; community radio; the Scouts and many more.
Clerks & Councils Direct, May 2023
WINNERS FLUSHED WITH SUCCESS
SEVENOAKS Town Council in Kent entered the Loo of the Year Awards, known as the Washroom Oscars, for only the second time in 2022 and won Platinum for facilities at the Bat & Ball Centre and Bat & Ball Station. Caretakers Warren Ellis and Derrick Rodgers received certificates as Washroom Cleaners of the Year. The council was fourth overall in the league table for local authorities, up from ninth the previous year, and was the highest placed in the South East. Meanwhile Billingshurst Parish Council in West Sussex was delighted to retain a Platinum award for its Mill Lane facility. Clerk Greg Burt said that the council was rightly proud of its award-winning facility, and paid tribute to staff who kept it clean and kept complaints to a minimum.
Clerks & Councils Direct, March 2023
TOILET DISCRIMINATION APPEAL IS REJECTED
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has rejected an appeal by EARL SHILTON Town Council in Leicestershire against a ruling that it discriminated against its female clerk by providing “makeshift” gender-neutral toilets. Karen Miller won a sex discrimination claim against the council in 2020. She complained that she had to put a sign on the door of the men’s lavatory when she was using it, and that she had to walk past a urinal to get to the single cubicle. She also had to wait for the council to install a sanitary bin. Judge James Tayler ruled that she had received treatment “less favourable than that accorded to men”. He added: “A woman being at risk of seeing a man using the urinals is obviously not the same as the risk of a man seeing another man using the urinals. The claimant was not provided with toilet facilities that were adequate to her needs, because of the risk of coming across a man using the urinal and the lack of a sanitary bin.”
Clerks & Councils Direct, March 2023
| ECO-TOILET INSTALLED CALNE Town Council has installed a fully accessible eco-toilet at the Wiltshire town’s Recreation Ground. As well as providing a much-needed facility, it confirms the council’s commitment to climate emergency measures, as the toilet is waterless and therefore uses fewer resources than a standard toilet. This was the first in a series of improvements to facilities at the Recreation Ground. The director of council services, Steve Nash, said: “Our councillors are making positive changes in the town to encourage more visitors, which will help local businesses and support residents while maintaining support for tackling the climate emergency.” Clerks & Councils Direct, January 2023 |
GOLD LOO OF THE YEAR
SWANLEY Town Council in Kent has won a Gold Loo of the Year Award for its public toilets in Swanley Park. The national award scheme is an established benchmark of washroom provision and aims to encourage the highest possible standards. Each entry is judged by an unannounced inspector against a range of criteria.
Clerks & Councils Direct, January 2023
SEVENOAKS Town Council in Kent entered the Loo of the Year Awards for the first time this year with its Bat & Ball Station platform public toilet and was delighted to be awarded a Loo of the Year Platinum Award. It was also named as one of the top ten local authorities for public toilets, picking up a Loo of the Year Premier League Local Authority Award. It hopes to build on this success and enter more of its public toilets in future years.
Clerks & Councils Direct, May 2022
 | REVAMP FOR TOWN’S TIRED TOILET BLOCK CREWKERNE Town Council in Somerset opened its newly refurbished toilet block in Falkland Square in February 2022. The old toilets have been replaced by two modern unisex pods, alongside a fully refurbished disabled toilet which also provides a changing unit for babies. New features include automatic flushing and timed door locking and opening. Clerks & Councils Direct, May 2022 |
PUBLIC FACILITIES GO PLATINUM
BILLINGSHURST Parish Council in West Sussex has won a Platinum rating for its public toilets in the Loo of the Year Awards, announced last autumn. It entered the competition for the first time in 2018, winning a Gold award, and was delighted to reach an even higher standard on its second attempt. The council has leased the facility in the centre of the village from Horsham District Council since 2001. In 2017 it embarked on a comprehensive remodelling of the block, ditching separate male and female areas, which were prone to vandalism and antisocial behaviour, for three unisex units, following advice from the local crime prevention officer. The works cost £67,500 and were funded largely by S106 contributions and the council itself. Parish clerk Greg Burt said: “After our Gold award, we took on board all the judges’ helpful remarks, and will be doing so again this year in an attempt to achieve a Diamond award.”
Clerks & Councils Direct, March 2020
 | LOO REFURB HELPS KEEP VILLAGE GOING YOULGRAVE Parish Council in Derbyshire has opened a new toilet block, including a fully accessible toilet for disabled users. The building is located in the Coldwell End car park, a popular starting point for walkers. Clerks & Councils Direct, January 2020 |