Ludlow Town Council provides public toilet facilities at Castle Street car park, Smithfield car park and the Linney Riverside Park.   

The article below from High Street Positives Newsletter explains the positive impact of public toilets on the local community and the local economy.  https://highstreetpositives.beehiiv.com/p/highstreetpositives-newsletter-sept24

Why are we loo-sing out?

By Aceil Haddad - Founder MATT PR

While ushering my kids and family around the city this summer, it became abundantly obvious to me that we have a public toilet crisis. According to the British Toilet Association (BTA), we have lost 60% of our public toilets over the last decade and 800 toilets alone were closed during the pandemic with many not reopening.

Cost constraints are largely cited as the reason, which I understand, but what about the larger societal costs, public health, safety and additional cleaning required where people are forced to go outside. Moreover, for those working in the built environment, this has an impact on high streets and regeneration footfall as there are a huge number of people who won’t go out unless there is a toilet they can use – they are on what I have learned is referred to as ‘the toilet leash’.

Retail experts note that the opening of department stores was revolutionary for women, as the likes of Selfridges, Liberty and Fenwicks offered safe and clean toilets, allowing women to go out, socialise… and spend! Maybe here lies a gentle lesson for those thinking about how we get people out and onto our high streets.

Of course, running a public toilet is costly – Swindon Council claims it costs £619,000. With cuts to council budgets, inevitably, toilets were one of the first services to go. However, while I personally think the council and large landlords have a role in providing this service, there are creative ways to do this that are cost effective and beneficial for all.

The City of London has created the Community Toilet Scheme (CTS), under which participating shops, restaurants and bars supplement the City of London’s public toilets by giving the public free access to their toilets during their trading hours. This service could be easily and swiftly replicated across the country.

As a thank you, the City Corporation offers a financial contribution, it advertises the business and provides a window sticker to encourage potential customers to enter the premises. Already there are more than 75 more toilets as a consequence, dramatically bolstering up their 12 City of London-run loos.

Toilets are a basic need for us all, and if there isn’t one available – sometimes you cannot wait to do your business leading to public urination or worse the number two. Westminster Council publicised that it spends nearly a £950k a year cleaning urine stains alone, demonstrating the clear need for accessible public toilets.

One in five people stated that a lack of facilities deters them from leaving home as often as they want to and this figure rises among those with physical and mental health issues. Experts have also suggested there is a link between obesity and the lack of public toilets.

It is a basic human right to have access to adequate toilet facilities, but it’s about more than that – there are social and economic upsides. In short, businesses that want to create a more inclusive and commercially vibrant community should think about the WC – or we will all loo-se out.

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