Review into Glasgow public toilets to be carried out

Patricia Fort — whose petition amassed more than 1300 signatures — said more toilets are needed in parks and public spaces and they must be “free at the point of use”.

And councillors agreed that being able to access a toilet in public spaces was “a basic human right” – as officials warned there would be a “significant” cost to providing and maintaining more public facilities.

She told a council committee: “The city council does quite a good job of clearing most waste, but not human waste.”

Her petition called for “innovative solutions” such as temporary portaloos and for community cafes, pubs, museums and libraries to allow the public to use their facilities.

The council has agreed to review “current arrangements” — with a report on future plans to be presented later this year.

Bailie Annette Christie, who was chairing the committee, told Ms Fort that councillors were “very supportive of your endeavours” and backed “wider investigations”.

“This review will help to inform that,” she said.

A council report had admitted there is a “public need” for clean toilets in “strategic” locations, but added a “significant financial commitment” would be needed to have toilets in every park, with over 90 in the city.

There are currently 20 public toilets in the city, with 12 locations managed by culture and leisure body Glasgow Life.

Ms Fort said: “We do need, as the council accepts, public toilets designed to current standards and available for all to use.

“We need attendants employed to keep them clean, we need generous opening hours to suit the locations. We need them available, we need them near shopping areas and in the city centre.”

Cllr Archie Graham said the Labour group is “very sympathetic” to the aims of the petition.

“If you think of people who have diseases like Crohn’s and Colitis and so on, if you think of pregnant women, if you think of families with small children trying to use parks that don’t have toilets in them.

“It is a basic human right to be able to access a toilet at or very near to our public spaces.”

He asked whether charging for new toilets, but allowing customers to pay by card, would be better than the current provision.

Ms Fort said: “It would be better, but how would people who live on our streets manage?

“It would be better, but it does not meet the requirement, does it? — free at the point of use.

“This is simply just another refuse service in my view.”

Cllr Kim Long said information about public toilets needs to be “much more widely available”.

She said although there isn’t a budget for toilets in all 90 parks and gardens in the city: “I’d hope we can look at something in between an all or nothing situation.”

The councillor called for “geographic gaps” to be addressed, including a lack of provision in the east end.

A council officer said there are “significant costs” for the cleaning and management of public toilets, and that portable toilets are often viewed as “unattractive and unhygienic”.

He said the review will explore options to “expand” the number of toilets in the next few years and “look at what might be available and practical moving forward”.

Portable toilets would require security, he said, which “just adds to the additional cost”.

He admitted information on the council website was “pretty basic” and more detail on available toilets could be provided and said there could be “some merit” in a community scheme, where toilets in cafes or other venues are available to the public.

Ms Fort said she knows toilet provision costs money, but “they should be there and available for us to use”.