Designing London’s Recovery

I don't remember having even seen, let alone visited, a genuine public toilet in London for years. I would generally pop into a coffee shop, buy something, and use the loo there or use the loos in a gallery or museum - assuming near one.

I have a radar key but can’t access most public lavatories unless I pay .. if they ALL had the same charge it would help.

The lack of toilet facilities is a disgrace and limits many peoples enjoy London- free toilets in limited place like the main line stations and shopping centres help but there are too few often with limited opening hours. Great that you are asking for input - there needs to be a real change upwards in priorities for all ages

It's great that main station toilets are now free. A worrying sign was the need to use contactless to pay the 20p charge for the Hyde Park toilets. There are toilets near Gants Hill Station that are coin operated and a little out of the way. I am scared to use them in case I end up being locked in and unable to attract attention. Its key that toilets are open according to their advertised opening times. I once had food poisoning and was desperate for a loo. I felt I could just make it to the all night Stratford Bus Station Toilets. I arrived only to push the door and found it locked. By then, I was at the point of no return. Those in the bus queue who saw me evacuate in the nearest flower bed are probably still traumatised.

Not sure what use the survey questions are . Mostly there aren't any Public Toilets ,I head to a pub,or shopping centre
Recently in Cental Ealing Park only one toilet out of 6? was open ,during a busy week of events just metres away
This should have been a priority to repair.
Forgive the pun
Many people inconvenienced!

Shopping centre ones closed too
Nightmare

When I need to use the toilet I need to use the toilet. That is the only factor. Maybe some people can "hold on" for hours. I can't. If there is no public toilet I use toilets in a cafe or museum or anywhere else that has a toilet.
Many people have conditions which mean they need to use the toilet often and/or have to rush to the toilet when they need to go. For example, people with inflammatory bowel disease, urinary tract infections, pelvic floor problems, neurological conditions, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, prostate disease etc etc. Pregnant women need to use the toilet more. People with dementia. People on diuretic medication. I could go on. And there are people like me who have always just had a "weak bladder". Not providing toilets is yet another way to discriminate against large sections of society who have little voice. Many of whom are already treated poorly in this city, which seems to be geared mainly to the needs of young fit men (with strong bladders!)
Even if a public toilet is horrible I will use it if it means I avoid wetting or soiling myself.
Public toilets need to be free -absolutely no exceptions to this. Ideally they should be staffed at least some of the time to deter some of the antisocial behaviours which go on in toilets.
I would prefer not to be sexually harassed when I use the toilet. I would prefer not to have to listen to people in toilets having sex. I would prefer not to have drug users/dealers using toilets as a place to sell and use drugs. I would prefer it if toilets were clean and if the flush worked. I would prefer no graffiti on the walls. I would prefer it if there was soap available and hot water and a place to dry my hands. But to be honest most of all I just want more toilets. All shopping areas, high streets, shopping centres, and most train and tube stations should have a toilet, open 24 hours a day, free to use, accessible to all not just the fit, shouldn't they?

I usually use the toilet in my local Sainsbury's Supermarket when I shop there. However, the last time I shopped there, a few days ago, there was a "Toilets out of order" notice barring access to them. This may have had something to do with the fact that the Supermarket was obviously very short-staffed. When I asked a checkout operator why there were so few staff, he told me that Sainsbury's was cutting down on staff numbers in order to save money.

The toilets in some Underground stations are excellent, especially in Westminster Station which has lifts to every platform and toilets adapted for disabled people somewhere. As far as I remember, they are on the ticket-hall level.

Children under the age of 5 years can be held out over a street drain to pass urine. I remember my mother used to do this.

Public Libraries normally have good clean toilets.

As others have mentioned, many coffee-bars and restaurants have good clean toilets. Pubs are legally obliged to have toilets and most of them are clean. If I use a free toilet in any of these places, I will normally buy something, even if it is only a packet of crisps to take away, because coffee-bars, restaurants and pubs need an income; without an income they might close down.

As someone who regularly walks relatively long distances around London I sometimes find the need to use public toilet facilities and have become increasingly aware of how scarce they seem to have become. The only places you can generally find them these days are at mainline railway stations or large parks – and these vary quite considerably in terms of how well maintained they are. It is a shame that council-maintained toilet facilities seem to have vanished in many parts of London. Although I appreciate the cost of maintaining such facilities, many councils seem to spend fairly large amounts of money on ‘leisure’ facilities and I wonder whether some of this could be reallocated to what is an essential public amenity. Initiatives that encourage retail and hospitality businesses to make facilities available would also be worth trying out.

What factors do you consider when deciding whether or not to use a public toilet?
Accessibility, how clean they are, is the area well lit and safe.

What would you need to see or hear in order for you to feel comfortable using a public toilet?
Accessible disabled toilet and normal toilets that are Well lit, clean and in a safe environment . A visible toilet attendant

There should be a public toilet in, or clearly signposted from, every train and underground station in London. A small charge is acceptable.

They need to be safe and in a public area. They need to be clean and well maintained and very well lit.
They should not be used by drug addicts and as a place for sex. That's why I feel they disappeared in the first place.
Good luck, I don't think k I would use them because of the issues raised.

I use the toilets in a local cafe, Marks and Spencer or Waterstones (but you need a code here).

consider how desperate I am, whether toilets appear well looked after, whether there are other people loitering in the area, whether they are well lit, whether access is visible to others for safety reasons, whether there are sounds of anti-social behaviour from the building, whether there is an attendant

I'd like to see public restrooms that are:

- well-maintained
- attended by a cleaner at all times
- split into women's and men's
- equipped with a larger number of toilets in the ladies' room than in the gents' (women need to pee a lot more frequently than men)
- equipped with free sanitary products (why should toilets be equipped with toilet paper but not tampons? They serve the same essential leakage-absorbing function)
- equipped with a sink within each stall

For public toilets like these, I'd be happy to pay the price of a bus fare for every use. Anything that doesn't meet all of the criteria above, I'd expect to be 'toll-free'

I typically only visit in context of pubs / restaurants etc which have their own toilets. The chance of needing it in the street is low, but on the rare occasions it is necessary (typically around parks etc, when picnicking or similar) basically you can assume there won't be one, or if there is one it will be filthy and wet, so it ends up either going home or packing up and going to a pub anyway.

It is generally assumed proper public toilets aren't available, or viable.