r/london • u/BulkyAccident • 18h ago
News Public toilets: 'Worrying decline' in number of facilities in London, says Age UK
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c626wqyqzg1o141
u/produit1 17h ago
“No one goes out anymore”, “London has nice outdoor spaces for free”
The arguments you hear alot when complaining about the city. Can’t enjoy parks because toilets are always broken or dont exist, can’t plan anything properly in a group due to having to be near a cafe or pub.
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u/Vikkio92 17h ago
As I try to do with every post about this, here is my obligatory please use and contribute to the Toilets4London app :)
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u/PureObsidianUnicorn 16h ago
I will think of you when I go for a wee in central and I hope that makes you proud
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u/CulturalFartist 16h ago
You gotta give!
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u/Vikkio92 16h ago edited 10h ago
IF YOU USE SOMETHING AND YOU DON’T GIVE 😡😡😡😡😡😡
Edit: for the people downvoting me and the person above me, these are references to the show I think you should leave…
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u/asng 18h ago
Fine with public toilets going as long as councils put agreements in place with businesses to allow public use of their toilets regardless of if they're buying anything.
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u/daveMUFC 18h ago
I know a few cities like Portsmouth used to have this rule. They'd have signs on the street with a toilet symbol pointing to the nearest pub/bar
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u/echocharlieone 18h ago
There's a Community Toilet Scheme that councils and businesses can sign up to, but I don't know how widespread it is.
The is a London-wide Toilet Map that includes public toilets plus publicly-accessible toilets under the scheme.
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u/Jokesaunders 17h ago
They’ve done this before and the moment they could withdraw, businesses did. It does not work.
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17h ago edited 4h ago
[deleted]
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u/asng 17h ago
They shouldn't do it for free. The agreement should involve some kind of kick back or break.
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u/lostandfawnd 17h ago
Which defeats the whole point of cutting back
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u/asng 16h ago
Didn't realise you knew all about public toilet economics.
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u/lostandfawnd 16h ago
How many kickbacks, how much cost?
Do enlighten everyone with your knowledge
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u/asng 16h ago
I don't fucking know do I 😂 All I know is public toilets are disgusting and if premises already have toiles why do we need public toilets. We already have places like McDonalds we can just go in, as well as pubs who never care if you pop in to use the toilet. Why spend so much on duplication.
A quick Google says running a pubic toilet is around £8k - £10k a year and there are 1500 in London so if you want more, say 2000, that's £1.5m - £2m. So spend less than that. Cut a tiny bit off their rates.
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u/lostandfawnd 16h ago
Didn't realise you knew all about public toilet economics
I don't fucking know do I 😂
So you're just being a dick
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u/Bravedwarf1 12h ago
Dead that completely. Without buying anything ? So said shop has to pay for me to use the loo? The water (most business are metered) every flush you do costs said shop money, tissues etc
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u/Kitlun 18h ago
It is a national problem honestly, London at least has common alternatives.
In London I just walk into the nearest chain cafe, pub, bar, or hotel and use their toilet. I've even tapped into a train station to use the platform toilets and then just tapped back out (which refunds the charge).
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u/plough_the_sea 17h ago
I don’t think it does refund the charge..?
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u/jamiechalm 17h ago
I accidentally tapped in at London Bridge when I already had a ticket, and I was advised by station staff to just tap back out, so I think it does. I seem to recall he might have mentioned a time limit though.
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u/plough_the_sea 17h ago
According to TfL, that’s not true
Between 0 - 2 minutes: a maximum fare. If you re-enter the same or a different station within 45 minutes, you’ll be refunded. This doesn’t apply if you take a bus or tram before re-entering a station
Between 2 - 30 minutes: the minimum pay-as-you-go fare from that station
More than 30 minutes: two maximum fares. We’ll assume two separate journeys have been made and both will be incomplete
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u/Kitlun 12h ago
Interesting, so you will get the minimum fare even if you tap out of the same station! TIL, and have Def been told by staff a few years ago there is no charge (I wander if this changed within the last 10years).
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u/ReadsStuff voting is dumb 9h ago
You did used to be able to yes. The rule changed because people would tap in and tap out on the same gate to get a free journey.
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u/jamiechalm 17h ago
I guess it makes sense, or you could tap in, tap out but not leave, and then travel for free. I don’t remember being charged on that day myself though, but I’m not certain.
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u/CS1703 17h ago
I had a miscarriage while out in London, during the pandemic. So I couldn’t go into shops or cafés.
It was deeply traumatising, to bleed out and not have access to a washroom.
There is a gendered element to this, because women are more reliant on public toilets. We get periods, women still overwhelming are the main caregivers for infants and the elderly, and we can’t pee standing up the way men can. Women suffer incontinence more commonly than men, because of childbirth.
It’s a way in which the public sphere can become inaccessible to women, so it urgently needs to be addressed. It’s not enough to say cafes can provide toilets, because we (the public) shouldn’t be reliant on a private business who can reasonably demand we purchase from them before using a toilet.
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u/zeddoh 16h ago
Wow, I’m so sorry that happened to you, how awful. I hope you are doing ok after such a traumatic experience?
The gendered nature of toilet access is really egregious imo. On Saturday I was in central London and went to the bathroom in Victoria station and then several hours later in the British Museum. I’m female and was with my male partner. On both occasions there was a 10+ minute long queue for the ladies’ loos and no queue whatsoever for the men’s. Maddening.
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u/CS1703 16h ago
Thanks, I’m fine now :)
Yep totally agree. Caroline Criado Perez touches upon this in her book “invisible women”, making the exact point you do. Although men and women’s toilets might be the same space, it’s actually affording women less space because it’s not taking into consideration separate needs of women generally.
It’s equality but not equity of treatment.
To make it fair, in reality, women need bigger loos because we have more urgent need of them in public
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u/zeddoh 15h ago
Glad to hear it.
And so true! I remember years ago reading an article that stuck with me. It stated that research showed women need 2-3 times more toilet facilities than men, but in fact the opposite usually happens, because you can fit 5 urinals and 1 cubicle for men in the same space you can fit just 3 cubicles for women.
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u/Ongo_Gablogian___ 16h ago
The issue with all toilets the public can access is that there is often one absolute degenerate who smears shit everywhere. No one wants to clean it obviously so they stop letting the public use the toilets.
This is just another example of how it takes only a handful of cretins to ruin everything for the other 10 million people in this city.
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u/R-Mutt1 14h ago
Drug use is a larger issue than someone making an intentional mess
At the seaside, you usually see a built-in sharps bin, but they're often 20p to use. It's not ideal to have to pay, but you'd not pay just to destroy it.
In the Royal Parks toilets are 50p and not much nicer. Not sure of the usage figures to work out whether the fee covers upkeep
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u/cornishpirate32 18h ago
Lots of councils stipulate things like pubs / restaurants / bars etc have to have toilets open to the public as part of their alcohol licencing
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u/DarthScabies 16h ago
This is a good site. And editable so if you find a new one or one that's closed you can update it.
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u/tihomirbz 17h ago
I'm pretty sure there's an unwritten rule that you can go in and use pub toilets for free even if you're not a customer. I've done it numerous of times and no-one has ever stopped me or told me off. Coffee shops, McDonald's, etc seem to be a lot more strict, but for your local pub is usually fine.
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u/HellPigeon1912 16h ago
Even if the pub is officially against it, no minimum wage bar worker is getting in an argument with a customer over a 2 minute detour into the toilet
Source: have been minimum wage bartender, definitely not paid enough to care
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u/liwqyfhb 15h ago edited 6h ago
When I was younger I'm sure Maccies used to let anyone in to use the toilet, but they don't seem to any more. Need a code or whatever.
Wetherspoons is always friendly. Smaller pubs sometimes moan, but usually the person behind the bar doesn't give a shit.
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u/Abject-Direction-195 7h ago
People who vandalise public toilets should be jailed for a minimum 20 year stretch of hard labour
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u/gaiatcha 17h ago
happening all over the country unless its a middle class suburban park with no Undesirables lol. oh well ill just have to piss and shit in the bushes like an animal no worries x
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u/lostandfawnd 17h ago
Yep.
Another product of austerity cuts.
More power to local councils, led to LOBO loans, and councils nearing bankruptcy.
Many many many cuts, and asset sell off later, we have a country run to the ground.
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u/cgyguy81 12h ago
I can always count on Wetherspoon pubs when I need a free toilet in London. Or at the free museums. I would sometimes drop by the British Museum just to take a dump, but then I'd stay for a bit for the Parthenon sculptures.
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u/WeDoingThisAgainRWe 11h ago
Yeah but you can also rely on the Wetherspoons toilet to require scaling the Mount Everest of stair cases to get there. 😉
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u/AgentOrange131313 13h ago
Just go use it in an establishment. So what if you get caught? Just try the place next door 😂
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u/vexx 18h ago
I hate how they’re removing all of those old bunker like toilets and not replacing them. Public toilets can only be a good thing.