Not everyone is happy with the decision by B&NES to contract out its public conveniences to a private company who have said they will upgrade and maintain the ‘comfort-stops’ in their care around the city.
However it looks like ‘spending a penny’ is going to get twenty times more expensive when it comes to using the toilets in Sydney Gardens after a transformation planned by their new managers.
I bumped into one park user who could not wait to tell me more.
I took this up with the Leader of B&NES, Cllr Paul Crossley, who told me:
“Before awarding the contract to Healthmatic, useage counts were carried out. Healthmatic run these things in many areas and together we are confident that one fully accessible unit for the park will meet needs.
Obviously if there were to be a big event held in the park then as part of the event review the need for and numbers of portable units would have to be considered by the organisers of such an event.”
My councillor didn’t know about it! This appears tohave been arranged in his ward without telling him. Absoutely disgraceful! It’s a seriously dimwitted idea. WHere are people goig to ‘go’? Into the Holburne? Or, as I suspect, in the bushes? The silliest one by miles is the proposed car wash in Charlotte Street.
The current loos only need maintenance. They replaced the delightful Victorian pissoire, which has neither been maintained, removed, nor sent to a museum which would probably welcome it, such as Beamish. The cost of demolition and replacement is an unnecessary one. The loss of loos in Bath in general is serious drawback for older people who will be discouraged from coming out because of the lack of toilet facilities. The whole concept is misplaced, unless of course the council plans on refurbishing the loos and and turning them into holiday lets and at the same time making use of the fertiliser provided by the general public.