More public toilets are to remain open this winter although opening hours will be reduced as usual.
Last year, difficulties in recruiting staff and budget pressures and repairs saw 10 public toilets which usually remain open close over winter.
The Level and Pavilion Gardens toilets, both of which need major refurbishment, have remained closed since and are unlikely to reopen in the near future.
However, the other eight – Blaker’s Park, Easthill Park, Queen’s Park, Rottingdean Recreation Ground, Stanmer Village, Vale Park, the West Pier Arches and Wild Park – are due to stay open.
Because of “significant” vandalism, only one cubicle in Queen’s Park is currently open.
In Pavilion Gardens, members of the public can use the toilets in the foyer of Brighton Dome which are open 9.45am to 5.15pm, Tuesday to Sunday.
Most of the city’s public toilets will open from 8am to 4pm, except for some busier sites.
The toilets at Shelter Hall, Colonnade, West Pier Arches and Kings Road Playground will open later from 8am until 6pm, the council says.
four sites which usually close over winter at Daltons, Greenleas, Hollingbury Park and Black Rock will close this year.
Councillor Tim Rowkins, Chair of the City Environment, South Downs and The Sea Committee, said: “We’re keeping most of our public toilets open throughout winter and as usual, moving into winter opening hours so we can keep as many facilities open as possible.
“Public toilets at Greenleas and Black Rock have some ongoing maintenance issues that we’re going to work on over winter to reopen next spring.
“We’re determined to get the toilets at The Level and Royal Pavilion Gardens open as soon as possible and are currently working on plans to make this happen.
“It’s incredibly disheartening to see the violent criminal damage at Queens Park, just one month since the other cubicle was also vandalised. We’ve asked our maintenance team to prioritise the repair and hope to reopen the cubicle shortly.
“We’d ask anybody that has information about the vandalism at Queens Park to contact us so that we can pass it on to the police.”
This is a sad sight at Queen’s Park. I brought my children up there and toilets were always a problem when they were up the hill with both in a disgusting state with dodgy behaviour in the Gents. After many years and petitions, new toilets were built where they were needed, near the play area. It is quite disheartening that all that effort ends up in such a disgraceful state.
The low life going in there to shoot up ruin it for everyone like they do everything
Does make me wonder how useful public toilets actually are in their current setup, and how they could be managed better. Maybe smartlocks and a phone app?
I really don’t know what’s happening in society at the moment. Why does it appear that things have gone so terribly wrong? Was this ever the case before, if so I don’t remember.
With public toilets? I think they’ve always had the same issue. We’ve never really tried anything different, so the same issue reoccurs.