Public Toilets to re-open in phases

[megilleland]

I am relieved to hear this, but where are they? Hadn't realised there were so few.

03/06/2020 - To re-open all public toilets in Herefordshire in two phases where it is safe to do so under Government guidelines ref: 6914    

Recommendations Approved

Since the national lockdown restrictions have eased in recent weeks, there has been a significant increase of footfall to the county especially to the rural parks and countryside.

The lack of facilities is now causing a public health hazard due to the continued closure. Government guidance of 2 metre social distancing, appropriate signage and appropriate hand washing facilities needs to be addressed before the toilets can be re-opened. The council needs to ensure that both users and cleaners can operate safely.

Government guidance can be found at the following links:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/safer-public-places-urban-centres-and-green-spaces-covid-19/4-management-of-urban-centres

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/construction-and-other-outdoor-work

Appropriate additional measures may include:

Adding a touch point clean to routine cleaning.
Signage – for queuing and social distancing outside.
Handwashing – in addition to signage and ensuring that toilets do not run out of supplies, to put external hand sanitizers on the outside of toilets.

Proposal is to open as soon as possible all toilets identified in Phase 1 of appendix 1 where there is direct access off the street. This will include the disabled toilet at the British camp where the radar lock will be replaced with a normal lock to enable visitors to use it.

All toilets identified under Phase 2 of appendix 1 will be re-opened as soon as practicable possible after the 15th June 2020. These are cubicle toilets and it is far more difficult to achieve the 2 metre social distancing which makes them safe for users and cleaners.

The use of the toilets will be monitored on a weekly basis.

Decision Maker: Director of Economy and Place

Decision published: 04/06/2020

Effective from: 03/06/2020

Lead officer: Helen Beale

PUBLIC TOILET REOPENING PHASE 1

I0PY     Hereford Gaol Street Car Park Public Convenience 
EJPP     Hereford Union Walk Public Convenience 
HJPY     Leominster Broad Street Public Convenience 
LJPA     Leominster Westbury Street Public Convenience 
KJP7     Colwall Jubilee Drive British Camp Public Convenience ACCESSIBLE TOILETS ONLY 
FJPS     Kington Mill Street Public Convenience ACCESSIBLE TOILETS ONLY 
WAPM Ledbury Church Lane Public Convenience ACCESSIBLE TOILETS ONLY 

PHASE 2

KJP7     Colwall Jubilee Drive British Camp Public Convenience REMAINDER 
FJPS     Kington Mill Street Public Convenience REMAINDER 
WAPM Ledbury Church Lane Public Convenience REMAINDER 
0CP3    Colwall Jubilee Drive Wyche Cutting Public Convenience 
0QGL   Hereford Castle Green Public Convenience Castle Street 
6APH   Ross-on-Wye The Croft Public Convenience

[megilleland]

The stupid fellow urinating next to a memorial for hero PC Palmer's during protests highlights the need for public conveniences to open as soon as possible. In Hereford the closure of public toilets was a stupid move and many people especially those incontinent are greatly inconvenienced. In view that the Covid outbreak is a health risk for all then facilities are necessary to relive oneself especially as shops and businesses expect the public to go into the centre of Hereford. You can't wander around the town looking for somewhere to go and I am sure a lot of people will stay at home rather than risk wetting themselves. When I go to town I rely on shops, bars and stores to do my business, but most of these will still be closed for several more weeks.

[twowheelsgood]

Stupid moves are Herefordshire Council's stock-in-trade - equally stupid was the closure of the hugely expensive toilets in East Street and Gaol Street - let's have these re-opened as well, especially as they give direct access off the street.

[megilleland]

In The Guardian 27th June 2020

Britain's desperate lack of public toilets says so much about our country

The state of a nation’s public services, from its health system all the way to its toilets, tells you a lot about its priorities. As with so many aspects of our society, the coronavirus pandemic has revealed to many what was already obvious to plenty: that after 40 years of neoliberalism and a decade of Tory austerity, Britain is a place in which private interest trumps public comfort.

The BBC found that while in 2010, major councils ran 5,159 public toilets, in 2018 they ran only 4,486. Over the last two decades, the number of public facilities in the UK has dropped by 39%, while the population has increased by more than eight million. Since 2010, 60p in every pound local government receives from central government has been cut – and because local authorities are not legally required to provide public toilets, they fall victim to these cuts.

What we have in the demise of public toilets in Britain is a story with which we are becoming more and more familiar – a story about a place that sold off public space to private interests. In much of the rest of the world, the idea that you would have to buy something or even simply feel ashamed to ask to use the toilets in a cafe or some similar establishment is anathema. In the UK, a nation of shopkeepers, the birthplace of modern capitalism, we are used to seeing signs that say: “Toilets for paying customers only.” Workers in cafes, pubs and restaurants are often told not to let anyone use the toilets for free – though the idea that this is a luxury one must pay for seems now to have trickled down to all of us.

Full article here.

Anyone else pi$$ed off about this?

[Paul Jones]

I never knew we had so few toilets in Hereford 

[megilleland]

Open public toilets
The following public toilets that meet the Covid-19 guidelines are open in Herefordshire:

Hereford - Castle Green
Hereford - Gaol Street Car Park
Hereford - Union Walk

Is that all in a city of 61,400 people? 
If it wasn't for the supermarkets I would be pi$$ed off. What are other shoppers doing, especially the ladies, when you need to go.

https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/community-1/find-toilet?documentId=217&categoryId=200139