Barely adequate (From The Oxford Times)

Barely adequate

7:00am Thursday 9th July 2009 in

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Sir – The idea of closing some public toilets in order to improve others defeats their purpose as fewer people are then within a convenient distance of one (Report, July 2).

Public houses and coffee bars create the need for toilets. Pubs, which always have them, are becoming fewer, while coffee bars, which sometimes don’t, are increasing. It should perhaps be conditional that they provide them.

Tourism and toilets should be related; but the city’s latest and most successful attraction, Oxford Castle Unlocked, has no signposted toilets and the ones for the cafe are barely adequate.

Charging is a partial solution, but puts some visitors and the homeless at a disadvantage; and there is the problem of having the right coins.

It would help if, as suggested, some shops (including coffee bars) were to make their toilets available to the public, perhaps with a reduction in their council tax.

They may even make a few extra sales through the public entering the premises to use them!

However, it should be added that the situation has been improved recently by the provision of toilets at one, if not more, of the park-and-rides.

Robert Sephton, Kennington