Public toilet strategy 2022 to 2027
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Background
The Welsh Government agreed adoption of the Public Health (Wales) Bill (external website) in May 2017. The Act brings together a range of practical actions for improving and protecting health. Part 8 of the Act introduces the provision of toilets and specifically local toilet strategies. In terms of public conveniences, the overall aim of the legislation is to ensure all local authorities assess the need of its community in relation to the provision of public convenience and that it takes a strategic and transparent approach to meet this need.
The intended effect of part 8 is not to prevent local authorities from taking decisions which they need to take during the course of their activities, which may result in the decision to close public toilet facilities or public buildings when appropriate to do so. It is intended to improve the planning and provision so that decisions are taken within the overall context of Denbighshire meeting its community’s needs. A strategic approach will help reduce any negative impacts or changes to the provision.
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Introduction
Our objective in this strategy is to ensure that we continue to meet the needs of the people of Denbighshire. It is the intention that the strategy will consider the future provision of the public convenience portfolio and alternative delivery models under the financial constraints facing the Council.
The strategy is being prepared to create an infrastructure necessary to deliver the facilities required within Denbighshire by its residents and visitors.
Wherever people go, outside of their own homes they depend on toilet facilities for the enjoyment of their visit. Visitors to the county may be some distance from their homes and also depend on the provision of accessible toilets. Toilets can make a significant impact upon the comfort of individuals and families who visit public spaces and their perception of the area as a desirable place to visit.
The provision of and access to toilets is a basic requirement for all parts of the community. Accessible clean toilets that are well located in places such as town centres, parks, cycle trails and walking routes can help encourage people to socialise, take exercise and stay more physically active. This has clear health and economic benefits. The lack of adequate toilet facilities can impact on a person’s physical and mental health and have an effect on the wider environmental health of the population.
Therefore, the provision of toilets has implications for public and individual health, transportation, crime prevention, urban design, economic and cultural development and social equity and accessibility. It is an important factor in delivering a ‘people friendly’ environment for everyone who visit shopping centres, leisure and entertainment venues, sports facilities, parks and green spaces, everyone who moves about on foot, or bicycle, private or public transport, whether for work or pleasure.
Toilets for public use matter to everybody who travel “away from home” and remains a high-profile issue. They are, however, even more important to certain groups within society, including:
- older people
- people with disabilities
- people with particular needs, like dementia for example
- people with mobility issues
- women, children and young people and their families
These groups can be disproportionately affected by poor provision; for example, poor provision is understood to have particular negative impacts on older people, as some may be less likely to leave their homes without having confidence that adequate facilities will be available to them. This can contribute to increased social isolation and inactivity, as well as affecting people’s ability to maintain independence and dignity in later life.
Changing demographics, human activity and the regulatory provision of these facilities has impacted on the demand for public conveniences. As such, the historic role of local authorities providing public conveniences has become less of an imperative. Local authorities now mainly provide public convenience facilities where they create demand, as service providers themselves for example, libraries, community hubs and supported facilities. However, in Denbighshire, we have maintained a large public convenience portfolio, particularly in the northern part of the county, where tourism and the resident population are at its highest.
Capital investment of £60K has been spent on our public convenience facilities in the 2018 / 2019 financial year, and further capital investment has continued in financial years 2019 / 2020 and even throughout the recent COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 / 2021, where further improvements in the public toilet portfolio have been carried out and will continue with support from the Levelling Up Fund to refurbish public conveniences in Corwen.
Denbighshire County Council covers an area stretching from Llangollen in the south to Rhyl and Prestatyn in the north of the county. It is bordered to the west by Conwy County Borough Council and to the east by Flintshire County Council. The area lies at the heart of north Wales. The county is a mixture of urban and rural communities.
There are six principal centres within Denbighshire: Denbigh, Llangollen, Prestatyn, Rhyl, Ruthin and St Asaph.
Many locations receive investment and are undergoing regeneration (with the continued regeneration of Rhyl and Prestatyn in particular), and by way of example many private retailers now provide public conveniences as part of their developments under building regulations (Part M) (external website) (for example, new shopping centres). They provide high-quality, separate toilet facilities, incorporating WCs, baby and adult changing facilities as well as fully accessible toileting available over extended opening hours (designed to satisfy increased footfall).
There is further work to done in encouraging and working with local businesses to promote the use of these toilet facilities to the general public wherever possible, and by using the standard public toilet signage that has been produced by the Welsh Government for this purpose. This type of quality provision is designed to satisfy the demands of a wide-ranging demographic of customers, including those with a range of disabilities, parents with children and the older community.
Denbighshire County Council is not alone in feeling the growing pressure on public toilet provision, and in an attempt to address this, the Government produced in 2008 a document called:
Improving Public Access to Better Quality Toilets – A Strategic Guide’ (external website) which provides a blueprint for local public toilet provision. Furthermore, the Welsh Government: Public Health Bill (external website), under Part 6 ‘Provision of Toilets’ sets out a number of duties that local authorities must account for regarding public toilet provision.
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A note on terminology
In this strategy paper we may use the following terms for different types of toilet facility:
Toilet(s): we use this to mean a toilet facility that the general public can use that may be in public or private ownership, within a variety of premises and which does not require the user to be a customer or make a purchase.
Traditional public toilet(s): by this we mean a purpose-built facility in local authority ownership or control provided for use by the public. Some quotes in the text from legislation use the term ‘public toilet’, and in these cases we have not included the word ‘traditional’.
Gender neutral toilet(s): we may use this expression in this document to mean a toilet that is not designated for exclusively male or female use but can be used by anyone. This type of toilet may previously have been termed ‘unisex’.
Changing place(s): these are fully accessible toilets with a height adjustable changing bench, a hoisting system, a peninsular toilet and enough space for a person with a disability, his / her wheelchair and two carers.
Standard accessible toilet(s): these are specially designed cubicles in separate-sex toilets or a self-contained gender neutral toilet. These may also be known as disabled toilets.
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The aims of this strategy
The aim of this strategy is to continue to review the quality and quantity of local toilet facilities throughout the authority and to provide or facilitate the provision of clean, safe, accessible and sustainable toilets for residents and visitors to Denbighshire, at locations where the need for such facilities have been identified.
This strategy is the first formal step to delivering this commitment. It sets out recommendations that should be considered before a timetable for plans can be established, in order to ensure that the authority's aspirations provide a good quality public convenience facility for all residents and visitors to Denbighshire.
To achieve this strategy, we will:
- provide clean toilets and appropriately maintained facilities and consider the requirements of the general population
- promote by publicising the provision of available toilet facilities for public use
- work in partnership with council facilities and businesses to maximise the availability of toilets accessible to the public
- ensure public awareness of location of the toilets through signage
- assess the current portfolio of toilets based upon demand
- to continue consultation with local members / Member Area Groups / local businesses who have shown an interest in the Community Toilet Scheme
- identify the needs for particular user groups, for example Dementia Friendly and Age UK
- continue to survey the condition and usage of existing facilities, and to continue to make reasonable adjustments in line with the Equality Act 2010
- provide a statement setting out the steps which the local authority proposes to take to meet this need, and any other information that the authority considers appropriate
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Reviewing the strategy
Denbighshire County Council will prepare an interim progress report setting out the steps taken in line with their strategy every two-year period commencing from the date of the last published strategy. The interim progress report will be published within six months of the end date of the two year period. Therefore, following publication in May 2023, this review will take place before the end of May 2025.
Denbighshire County Council may review its strategy at any time following which it must publish a statement of the steps which it has taken in accordance with the strategy. If following a review, the authority decides to revise the strategy it will publish the revised strategy and then prepare an interim progress report covering the two year period commencing from the date of publication.
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How does it fit with other Council priorities and services?
Denbighshire County Council are an ambitious, flexible, and agile organisation who place employees and communities at the forefront of our decision making. We want Denbighshire to be the best it can be for our communities and for future generations.
Our culture is centred around our 4 key values: Pride, Unity, Respect, and Integrity. Regardless of what department or service our people work in, we apply a 'One Council' approach to everything that we do, providing an environment that is respectful, professional, and enjoyable for our employees.
We will continue to be a council that is closer to its communities that gives community confidence, encourages community leadership, and develops community resilience through positive communication.
As a council we are realistic, open and honest about everything that we do, we remain ambitious in our key priority areas and most importantly, we are a council that is accountable.
The Council is committed to a clear vision in which Denbighshire is a distinctive place with vibrant communities and equal opportunity for everyone to fulfil their potential. This public toilet provision strategy can contribute to that, supporting a number of the wellbeing objectives within the Council’s Corporate Plan.
More than that, as described earlier, publicly accessible toilets are needed by every one of us at some point when we are “away from home” and so provision touches on every area of the Council in some way and to some degree.
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Who provides local / public toilets?
Providing toilet facilities in separate buildings has been the model for many decades and this approach may still have a role in certain circumstances. However, there may be increasing benefits from co-located provision in existing buildings wherever possible to reduce some of the negative aspects such as anti-social behaviour and vandalism and the associated costs.
Alongside commercial providers in significant retail centres with extended opening hours and in entertainment venues and visitor attractions, the case for publicly accessible toilets in a wider variety of community buildings and service centres will become stronger, drawing in a wider range of potential partners to fund and manage them.
Local councils are no longer the only providers of toilet facilities and the headings below describe other providers and options.
Categorisation of public toilets
A - Council-owned
1. Stand-alone: council managed
These are what many people would consider traditional public toilets. They have usually been stand-alone, purpose-built buildings providing separate areas for Ladies, Gents and more recently an accessible unit for disabled people. The council has been responsible for the maintenance, management, and cleaning, by in-house staff. Denbighshire County Council is a member of the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation (RADAR) Key scheme and operates a number of RADAR key scheme public toilets throughout the authority. RADAR keys provide users with disabilities free access to these public toilets for a one off payment of £3 for a RADAR key.
You can find details of the facilities we provide on our public toilets web page.
2. Within council owned and managed assets
Toilet facilities may be made available to the general public where the individual location, access and circumstances allow, such as the civic office portfolio, community buildings, libraries, sports centres, and various other buildings owned and run by the authority. This has often been part of a wider need to ensure that all services offered are accessible by all members of the community. A list of council premises with toilets available for public use can be found below:
List of Denbighshire County Council public toilets (MS Excel, 26KB)
B - Commercial / retail sector provision
Many toilet facilities provided by commercial and retail businesses have been primarily or solely for use by customers. Some shops in town centres understand that people come in to use the toilets and recognise that this may lead to people buying goods whilst inside. Out of town shopping centres and new mixed retail developments now generally make provision for toilet facilities for all visitors and shoppers. Most visitor and tourist attractions and entertainment venues such as cinemas, provide toilet facilities. Railway stations often provide toilet facilities.
C - Community Toilet Scheme (CTS)
Businesses can apply to the local authority to join the community grant scheme; this scheme is open to all private sector premises that are willing to open up their toilet facilities for the general public. Any participating private sector companies will be provided with a one off payment of £500 per annum for entering into the CTS. These toilet facilities will be required to be inspected by the local authority at the application stage of the CTS, and during the operation of such a toilet facility being used by the general public, ensuring that it meets the health and safety guidelines required. At the time of writing this strategy, Denbighshire County Council has one CTS toilet in operation in Llangollen.
D - Local Community Managed Public Toilet Scheme
This is a provision whereby the local authority may have transferred public toilet assets to local community groups / town / village councils to manage and run these previously local authority run public toilets, on a locally managed basis. Denbighshire has several locally managed public toilet facilities which are extremely well-run by dedicated volunteer staff on a local basis, often free of charge to the general public. Denbighshire currently has one of these which is based in the village of Llandrillo.
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Mapping locations
This is an important part of our strategy so that people who need to visit a toilet can easily access information about the location, opening times, accessibility, and type of facilities available.
Locations of toilets will be promoted via a mapping app specifically designed for mobile technology and smart phones. Participating premises will also display a sticker in a prominent place, indicating that toilets are available for the public. The sticker will display the logo stipulated by Welsh Government.
The British Toilet Association (external website) also recommends that signs be fitted on the outside with information like opening hours, contact information for reporting problems and the specific facilities provided inside, such as whether there is a baby-changing room.
The Council will periodically review and update the Welsh Government “Datamaplocation” data repository to allow access to accurate information by guide and map publishers, residents, and visitors.
Highways and Environmental services Department (Public Convenience Team) have already submitted a full list / dataset to a given specification of all of the public toilets in Denbighshire to Welsh Government and made it available as open data on the council website. The dataset consists of the location and specified characteristics of all of our public convenience assets. This data will also be consumed by the Welsh Government system and joined to other local authority datasets to produce the national dataset for the DatamapWales map. DatamapWales is a geo-portal that serves as a hub for data and information covering a wide spectrum of topics, but primarily around the environment. DatamapWales will generate all-Wales maps based on the datasets provided by local authorities that can be configured to focus on either the national picture, or on more local areas. The data included in the DatamapWales map will be available as an open data service accessible to everyone. The link to the DatamapWales portal is below:
DataMapWales: National Toilet Map (external website)
For data to be classed as open data it must be made available under an open licence. Within the public sector this can be achieved by publishing data under the Open Government Licence (OGL).
As the data provided by local authorities is to be made available as open data, it will be available for reuse by third parties, either directly from the local authority’s own website, or via the joined dataset behind the Datamapwales map. This might include other online map services, app developers or commercial interests, as well as being available for reuse by other public sector organisations.
The dataset will be available in Welsh and English. The public will be able to see and search the data as it appears on the Datamapwales website, to see the whole of Wales or to look at particular areas.
Denbighshire County Council will generate its own maps from these open data feeds and will embed the locally configured map into its own website. We will also show a link to the Datamapwales map as a whole to assist people in searching the data for other areas they may be visiting.
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Local Provision
The north coastal strip of Denbighshire (Prestatyn to Rhyl) and Llangollen are the most popular destination for visitors to the county, and in terms of our own residents, approximately 90% of the population of Denbighshire live above the 'A55 corridor’. The public conveniences located at Rhyl, Prestatyn and Llangollen are the busiest public toilet facilities within Denbighshire.
You can find details of the facilities we provide on our public toilets web page.
The British Toilet Association (BTA) makes recommendations on the number of toilet facilities needed in an area based on population density, gender mix and footfall. The ideal level is recommended as 1 cubicle per 550 females and 1 cubicle or urinal per 1100 males, which is a ratio of 2:1 in favour of women. One accessible toilet and also one baby change facility should be provided for every 10,000 population.
British Toilet Association recommendations (external website)
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Summary
Since the integration of Catering and Cleaning Services into Highways and Environmental Services the Public convenience portfolio has sat within the cleaning team and has its own dedicated Cleaning Manager, Public convenience supervisor, which has helped to give this small but dedicated Team a clear Team structure and purpose. The Cleaning Manger for the Public Convenience Team in turns reports to a dedicated Principal Manager.
The Public Convenience Team achieved a High Assurance rating from the Denbighshire County Council Internal Audit Team in September 2018. This was only achieved through hard work, dedication and reflects the professionalism and dedication of this small team.
Since April 2016, the public convenience portfolio has seen a sustained level of cosmetic and in some cases structural improvements to the portfolio, culminating in an ongoing capital investment programme. A full list of capital works can be found here:
Public toilet strategy: capital works programme
For too long, public toilets have been considered in isolation, rather than being seen as a constituent part of all locations where the public and visitors to Denbighshire congregates or passes through. If public toilets are considered within the design context of their location, they can be built and / or refurbished to complement and enhance the area rather than contribute to its decline.
Hayley Jones
Principal Manager, Catering & Cleaning
Highways & Environmental Services
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