The council plans to save £300,000 a year on places where the public just wants to spend a penny – and it may bring in charges, payable by contactless card.
The current cuts could get even worse, according to a new report, as the latest savings come on top of a reduction in the budget of £350,000 a year since 2015-16.
It means that the future of public toilets in the Royal Pavilion Gardens and at The Level are in doubt – because of building problems and anti-social behaviour.
Both toilets have been plagued by drug dealers and drug users, vandals and graffiti – among other problems.
And both toilets are currently closed because of damage and, in the case of the loos at The Level, there have also been “mysterious leaks”, the report said.
The Level toilets, which have been troubled by “significant issues” since July 2021, are part of the £1 million café building which opened after a flagship regeneration in 2013.
It was the Velo café, operated by the coffee chain, Small Batch. It has since gone through various incarnations as Tomato Dolce and Salato before The Level Café took over and then ceased trading in 2021.
The council said that a series of “mysterious leaks” had caused problems with the building although a report ruled out the underground Wellesbourne river, which runs underneath The Level, as the cause.
The report – to the council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee – said: “These toilets are the focus of anti-social behaviour and drug dealing.
“The Level café and toilets are subject to an options appraisal at present – and the options will be presented to the committee for a decision in the spring or summer.”
Problems with crime and anti-social behaviour at the Pavilion Gardens toilets may even persuade Brighton and Hove City Council to close them for good.
A review was carried out using Hertfordshire Constabulary’s “Public Conveniences Problem Reduction Guide”, highlighting crime prevention best practices in toilet design.
The report to councillors said: “Based on this guide, there are concerns about whether the location of the building is suitable for a public toilet.
“Discussions have also taken place with the council’s head of architecture and design and community safety teams, as well as Sussex Police, to identify options to reduce the risk to the site, staff and members of the public – and the options are limited.
“The orientation and location of this site needs to be carefully considered prior to any investment which could end up being wasted if the behavioural issues and vandalism are not resolved first.
“Therefore, before the money is spent on refurbing the facility as is, it is now preferable to close these toilets while work continues to address the behavioural issues and vandalism.”
The council also proposes to bring in card-only charges of 75p – using contactless technology – to use seafront toilets with a 50p elsewhere.
The public would have to pay to use refurbished toilets at Dalton’s Bastion, King’s Esplanade, Saltdean Undercliff and Station Road, Portslade.
The council already has permission to charge people to use the toilets at Shelter Hall and the West Pier Arches.
Officials have forecast revenues of £120,000 a year, with card payment contractor taking a 3 per cent cut.
The report said: “Research is being completed to identify whether pre-paid cards are an option for those without a credit or debit card. This will be incorporated into the principles of the model, if feasible.
“Payment will be by card only due to the costs involved in cash collection and the risk of anti-social behaviour if cash was contained in the paddle gates.
“When charging was previously approved, the cost of cash collection was analysed and meant that charging at some sites was financially unviable, with some sites resulting in a net cost to introduce charging.
“Payment by card-only provides a more financially sustainable and safe model.”
The council does not plan to start charging people to use toilets in Park Road, Rottingdean, because Rottingdean Parish Council is funding the refurbishment.
Healthmatic, which previously held the contract to manage the council’s public toilets, had researched charges before the service was taken back in-house.
The company found that people were more willing to pay for toilets if they were clean, tidy and safe. But a 20p charge halved usage – and a 50p fee reduced usage by 75 per cent.
Tourists were “less price-sensitive” to charges because they tended not to know where alternatives were – and they accepted charging when away from home, according to Healthmatic’s findings.
The council has used the findings to propose targeting seafront toilet users when setting prices.
The report to the council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee said: “Some other considerations are that some of the sites proposed for charging will have free sites near by – other council-run toilets, plus restaurants, café and bars.
“This may mean people choose to use the free toilets rather than the chargeable ones.
“Conversely, some people may choose not to use public toilets at present due to their current poor condition.
“Once they are refurbished and more pleasant to use, people may then choose to use them, despite the charge.”
Councillors are being asked to approve bringing in charges to toilets after they have been refurbished.
And they are also being asked to cut the budget for public toilets from £905,000 a year to £605,000.
As a result, the report said, 18 public toilets would have to close from Saturday 1 April. They are
- Black Rock
- Blakers Park
- Easthill Park
- Greenleas
- Hollingbury Park
- King Alfred
- Norton Road
- Ovingdean Undercliff
- Preston Park Chalet
- Queen’s Park Play Area
- Rottingdean Recreation Ground
- Rottingdean Undercliff
- Saltdean Oval
- St Ann’s Well Gardens
- Stanmer Village
- Vale Park
- Western Esplanade
- Wild Park
…
If the committee decides not to cut the current budget for public toilets, the 18 above are likely to open during the summer only and close for the winter.
Under the proposals, seven other public toilets would close for the winter anyway. They are
- Dalton’s Bastion
- Goldstone Villas
- Hove Park
- King’s Road
- Peter Pan’s
- Preston Park Rotunda
- West Pier Arches
…
Just eight toilets would remain open all year round. They are
- Hove Cemetery (north)
- Hove Lagoon
- King’s Esplanade,
- Lawn Memorial, Woodingdean
- Park Road, Rottingdean
- Saltdean Undercliff
- Shelter Hall
- Station Road, Portslade
…
The council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 4pm on Tuesday 17 January. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
So , we will shut public toilets…
And keep spending money on unwanted cycle infrastructure.
Absolutely scurrilous! Get the Greens out
Cycle infrastructure is funded by central govt, not council tax. Toilets are not.
Remind us how much the recently ‘paused’ Bikeshare cost the taxpayer.
And how much is the new not so eco-friendly and badly-reviewed Beryl bikes is going to cost us.
‘mysterious leaks’ at The Level …what a load of .. ! Any decent surveyor/architect should have been aware of ground water levels.
So the ‘Flagship’ Level revamp is now a complete dump – and how much was frittered away on it …by the previous Green ruling group ? GREENS OUT
So instead of sorting the drugs problem, let’s just close the toilet and hope it all goes away. Stick your fingers in your ears, close your eyes and make a baby noises
Mark
Because it’s an easy option isn’t it.
Instead of employing Graffiti police to catch the crims, why not just ‘fine’ the victim, oh, we already do.
I’d expect them to decriminalise public urination and deification at the same time!
You can blame the Greens for very many things in the City – and they are totally guilty of wasting large sums of money, hugely much more than the black (or orange-brown – male urinals it appears) holes in the toilet budget. They do not know what’s going on, have no interest in how their political agenda affects taxpaying residents and are totally incompentent. But we knew all this already, when Kitcat fled town, having made a total mess of everything he and his mob touched (or didn’t touch when they should have). And that includes his sidekick, Mac Cafferty, who has somehow got to ‘lead’ the council, and his acolyte Clare/Allbrooke. They are standing again for election in May and, I daresay, the deluded of their ward will elect them again. However, the purported Labour councillors from the last election are responsible for these cretins gaining control because of the people (e.g. Momentum and anti-semite sympathisers that Lab voters elected, not all of them bad – for instance, Nancy Platts in EB, who has done her best for constituents), quite a few of whom have been expelled/suspended/become pseudo-independents, and a chunk of them are not standing again in May. Good.
At the end of the day, though, it is officers who seem to drive the bus as they please and the current political administration lets them. The person who wrote the very wordy and long report on toilets said at every opportunity (many times over) that there was no statutory requirement to provide public toilets – i.e. trying to justify the unjustifiable. If central toilets are abused by druggies etc, then deal with them and don’t penalise law-abiding taxpayers.
Sample from the dense (in more senses than one) Officer Report on the subject:
‘The site has been reviewed alongside a Public Conveniences Problem Reduction Guide produced by Hertfordshire Constabulary. This document
highlights the best crime prevention practice in toilet design, such as ensuring the entrance is visible and in areas of high passing footfall. Based on this guide, there are concerns about whether the location of the building is suitable for a public toilet. Discussions have also taken place with the council’s Head of Architecture & Design and Community Safety Teams, as
well as Sussex Police, to identify options to reduce to the risk to the site, staff and members of the public and the options are limited. The orientation
and location of this site needs to be carefully considered prior to any investment, which could end up being wasted if the behavioural issues and vandalism are not resolved first. Therefore, before the money is spent on refurbing the facility as-is, it is now preferable to close these toilets while works continues to address the behavioural issues and vandalism.’
Oh really? What has Hertfordshire Constabulary to do with anything in B&H? I know the more pleasant parts of Herts pretty well, and I also know that the county doesn’t contain coastal resorts that unfortunately attract low-life or have a large number of resident low-life who trash the public toilets. Over in East Brighton, there are no public toilets at all – one appears dimly on a council map but I have no idea where it is. In my street, on the boundary between EB and Rottingdean Coastal, male low-life just pees up against a wall. Just beyond EB, in RC ward proper, which is a different kettle of fish entirely to Central Brighton, there are many people who enjoy the benfits of the Undercliff Walk and do fit and healthy things not involving cars or pollution, but they are threatened with these toilet closures, for the sake, it seems, of a paltry £350k, which is peanuts in the scale of this council’s waste.
Your the only person who has written a long and meaningless diatribe. However you are right about the greens incompetence and dependence on officers to run the council. The danger with this is we are in yes minister territory. Officers running the council. This has to stop. The people of this city should be the owners of decisions. The officers are petrified of a majority administration but that is exactly what is needed.
No more mandarins running the council but rather democratically elected councillors.
A city by the people, from the people and for the people!
This approach is so shortsighted. Children play sports, what are they supposed to do.Some people with health conditions and would like to use our public spaces need access toilets. What sort of city are we becoming?
A city by the people, from the people and for the people!. Do you mean “ . . . of the people, by the people and for the people.”?
Tuesday, January 17th.
At the council meeting tonight the Greens wanted to pass a recommendation that there should be a charge for using public toilets – so as to help make these loos self financing. But this proposal was tonight voted against.
The Labour group spoke to say they wanted the toilets to remain free at the point of use, and it was pointed out that the recent closures were/are affecting so many locals and visitors, along with businesses and outdoor events..
For example, cafes in our parks are facing problems where the only toilets available for their staff and customers are the public ones. In some cases, these cafes are leasing council property where the use of nearby public toilets was part of the leasing deal, leaving the council with a potential legal headache. .
The council are this evening trying to find new ways to raise money to maintain these basic services.
The accounting figures released on December 19th revealed an ‘unexpected’ 2million shortfall in the budget for the current year. This shortfall, is said to be down to inflationary costs and because of a loss in expected council parking income. The loss in parking is said to be £1.4million.
Nobody at the meeting mentioned the lack of interest payments from the i360 – but presumably that is a further budgeting headache.
We can expect further cuts in basic services and closures of council funded facilities. There is a proposal to add new ‘administration fees’ to allotment rents.
Parking fees will also go up by more than the rate of inflation. And council tax is expected to rise by at least 5%
The council meeting is still going on, and councillors are now discussing an increase in charges and fees for all council services.