Designing London’s Recovery

Toilets should be free. The cleanest I’ve come across to date are in Greenwich Park and Hyde Park (both staffed) - otherwise I have to use a main line station.

It's been so long since I came across a public toilet it's hard to say, huge numbers have been closed. The last one I used was in Regent's Park and you had to pay by contactless card which was such a slow process it was causing a long queue and I was aware if my Mum and her friends had been there they wouldn't have been able to figure out how to use it.
I work for a community health team so it's a real issue. I'm out of office a lot of the time and we don't ask patients to use their toilets as they don't like it. I'm often bursting for the loo by the time I get back to the office and in the hot weather was trying not to drink anything. I don't have time to go into cafes and sit down but often buy a take away drink just to get the toilet code.

Thank you for doing this vital survey.
1/ Toilets often appear on maps, I walk to them, only to find they are closed.
2/ Some toilets seem to be privately run and are expensive eg Covent Garden £2
3/ While I understand that TFL have no obligation to provide toilets at every station I think that obligation should be placed on them. Journeys in London can be long and frankly there should be toilet facilities available.
4/ Some other countries provide really good facilities, and large cities do manage to have v good facilities. London does not and it lets the city down.
5/ I note there is a potential discriminatory problem. Pregnant women, children, men with prostrate problems, older people, people taking certain medication, people with certain conditions such as diabetes - the list of people who need toilets is very long. In this day and age I don't think citizens should have their opportunities restricted because of the failure to sort out toilets.
6/ Finally, great things are being done about the environment, more cycling and encouraging walking etc. That's fine, but where is the additional toilet provision to support the cyclists and walkers in their journeys?

One wonderful step London has taken is to make public toilets free in all its main railway stations. I really appreciate this facility and it would be good if all railway stations and bus stations in London, even small ones, could offer such a facility. The facility I normally use is the one in London Bridge Station. The toilets are clean, well maintained and well designed. I can get very claustrophobic in toilet cubicles which are totally 'closed in', which is not the case with the big railway stations' toilets. Also, if they are easy to unlock, you don't worry about your children (in my case grandchildren) getting locked in. This aspect is very important. I do worry about them getting 'stuck' inside, as they are still quite young - but too old for them to want me with them. I had this problem with my mother when she was at the onset of her Alzheimer's. She did not know how to get out of a cubicle because of a 'complicated' system - at least complicated for her. Safety is another issue. You don't want to use such a facility unless you feel safe. For this reason, it must be in fairly busy places, such as railway or bus stations.

How far I have to walk to get to them.
How clean and well maintained they are.
How long the queue is.
The cost.

We should have a free accessible public toilet in every tube station, as is the case in so many countries. Those companies who participate in the public toilet scheme do not have information about this in their windows, so most people are unaware of it. The problem is a lack of provision of public toilets, not how clean they are.

Have occasionally used the Public Toilets in Regents Park Primrose Hill, since I walk there every day. The toilets are reasonably maintained, although our fellow Londoners seem not to care to maintain their cleanliness. After mid-afternoon, you need to put a clip on your nose when you visit the toilets. I am also amazed that the toilets shut at 5 pm, when the park is open till 10 pm. You can imagine what people do when they are in the park after 5 pm and need to go. It seems that the department responsible for maintaining the park are firmly convinced that either no one uses the park after 5 pm, or alternatively put a cork in/carry a portaloo with them if they visit the park in the evening.

I would consider whether the toilets were clean and hygienic. Whether there were homeless people and junkies nearby. How much it costs to use the toilets. How near the toilets were and whether I was able to use my RADAR key ( I have IBS). Sometimes the disabled toilets are locked.

Can we please maintain toilets for women only. It is not safe for my daughters to use toilets that are frequented by men. Also men tend to leave toilets more dirty as they don’t lift the pan when they pee! ( sorry )

I consider how badly I need a toilet and whether there is a practical alternative such as a cafe which I planned to use anyway. I often ask cafes whether they have a toilet before buying a coffee. I would like to know that any toilet was clean, did not smell, that the seat was clean and it had toilet paper. Also that the door locked and that there were soap, water and a means to dry hands. The best public toilets are undoubtedly at Guildhall Art Gallery in the City of London. They are all of the above, as well as warm and attractive.

In my opinion every shopping centre, including small suburban district centres, should have free, clean, regularly-serviced public toilets. As our population ages, more people will need the toilet while out and about. This is an Equalities issue as women, children, men with prostate problems, elderly people and people with disabilities disproportionately need toilets at short notice. Lack of them means less freedom and ability to function successfully.

There are never enough toilets anywhere in London. If I were desperate to go I would use any public toilet that was available, and if there were none I would find the nearest pub or bar and use theirs. I have prostate issues and also take water tablets, so I’ve been caught short many times and had to urgently find a tree or alley. Obviously this is not ideal and in certain circumstances could possibly lead to prosecution.

How safe the toilets are
How clean the toilets are
Where they are

It's important to have more public toilets because people might have bladder or bowel problems (urinary frequency, IBS, Crohns, etc) and the number of establishments that turn away people us quite sad.

It also means less "pee corners" and cleaner roads, etc if there are accessible and clean toilets.

Public toilets are to my mind in the same category as public drinking fountains. There used to be a lot. Now there are few.
Maintenance and lack of funding meant they closed were closed by local authorities.
The need for public toilets is still there but they need to have a staff presence in order to deter those who would abuse public facilities.
And funding or they will disappear just as happened in years gone by.

Following major surgery I have a stoma and therefore using public toilets can be very difficult.
Accessible toilets are much needed and should be only accessed by a radar key.

London Borough of Bromley has deliberately allowed our town centre toilet block to become derelict, enabling them to earmark it for sale. These toilets (in Library Gardens) are next door to the library, the High Street, and the largest town centre park, essential when I was toilet-training my toddlers. The power supply for the outdoor event space, and the fountain to stop the fish dying in the lake are located inside it. Even worse, they are now being used to store cages for the market traders.
I want to see these toilets restored. Shame on LBB.

There is a distinct lack of changing places toilets in public areas of London, especially outside of Central London

There should be many more free toilets in cities and towns across the country. Over the past 30 years or so, many have been closed or (yes) occasionally developed into housing! In terms of peeing, it should be recognised that we drink pints of beer/lager when out - but the facilities to match the night out are not always there - they should be. Otherwise, people will of course use the streets. You have to pee!
Kids need to go - we all do. The French have many a free peeing centre. We should too.

When I visited Tokyo in Japan I was really impressed that every tube station had public toilets. It made sense that toilets were in these places as everyone knew where they were.
There are simply not enough public toilets in this country. It puts older people off from going out as they have more need for them.