Government praise for borough's public toilet scheme

12.32.20pm GMT Mon 10th Mar 2008

• RICHMOND Council's pioneering Community Toilet Scheme, which sees businesses open their loos to the public, has been praised in a Government guide for local authorities.

A national first when it was launched it 2004, the scheme has been singled out as one way in which councils can halt the decline in public toilets. Currently 66 businesses are participating in the borough, including pubs, restaurants and shops. They are paid £600 a year to make their loos available. There are also five conventional public toilets in the borough.

Cllr Martin Elengorn, Cabinet Member for Environment on Richmond Council, said: "We are delighted the Government has again singled the scheme out for praise and recommended other Councils consider adopting similar initiatives. We now have more toilets, kept clean and safe and open for longer hours than ever before. The old public toilets had become extremely expensive to run and were a magnet for graffiti, vandalism and other anti-social behaviour. Many people simply did not want to use them. We also did not receive funding from the government to provide and maintain them. In the last 12 months we have been installing more on-street signs to ensure residents and visitors know which businesses are taking part."