A new Glasgow City Council strategy has recommended that the number of public toilets in the city should increase and charges for using the facilities be removed.
The ten-year strategy also proposes a ‘flagship’ public toilet facility and changing places unit within a dedicated visitor centre in a ‘prominent’ city centre location.
Development of the strategy followed a full council meeting in October 2023, where councillors agreed the importance of public toilets – recognising their availability as a equality and health issue.
The British Toilet Association supported a review of Glasgow’s provision and a public consultation that received almost 2,000 responses found that 95% of people felt there were insufficient public toilets in Glasgow.
In a paper presented at the local authority’s environment and liveable neighbourhoods policy committee, the strategy’s 22-point action plan was found to create an opportunity for the city’s public toilet services to promote improved health, social inclusion, and economic value to the city. Having improved public toilet services can encourage tourism within the city and help increased demand in relation to city events, the strategy has identified.
Councillor Laura Doherty, city convener for neighbourhood services and assets at Glasgow City Council, said, “Having access to public toilets can encourage greater levels of activity and fitness among our citizens by giving people confidence they can take a comfort break when they are out and about.
“Decisions on where people visit and how long they stay in an area can also depend on whether a public toilet is available.
“An effective public toilet service can therefore help to stimulate local economies. Money spent on a well-maintained public toilet service can generate spending in a community up to eight times the cost of operating the toilet.
“Over the course this strategy we want to increase the number of public toilets available in the city, end charges where they currently apply and also focus on providing a new, dedicated facility in the city centre.
“There are many other actions within the plan which also aim to improve safety, sustainability and accessibility within the existing provision and we will be looking closely at how we can implement this plan over the next ten years.”
