… Planning Applications

Today I’ve been working my way through the supporting documents for the new public toilets for Oxford Street. (My previous blog post about them is here and the planning documents are here, at the time of writing.)

My response to the planning proposal is here (pdf). I made 4 points, about Gender Ratios, Signs, ‘Changing Places’ and Benches.

It wasn’t easy to comment on a planning application. Here’s why…

1 – I had to know about it.

• As part of my research I met a man at Westminster Council in 2009 who told me they were hoping to build a public toilet pavillion on this site (between John Lewis and House of Fraser).
• In 2010 I heard that there was something in a London paper about the department stores objecting because it would draw people away from their stores!
• Finally, the developers of the toilets contacted my Supervisor as they were looking for some researchers to count nearby toilets (tempting, but not what we do).

So I kept an eye out.

… Answers

For those that don’t know: when you have a WordPress blog you’re told the Google search terms that led someone here.

For example, today I’ve had:

• children toilet layout
• charging for public conveniences
• queue for ladies loo
• eu law and charging to use mens urinals
• london map toilet
• using public toilets
• sanitary bins for lady’s toilets

These have begun to make me feel guilty.

You’ll never find what you’re looking for in a rambling blog, and yet generally I either think I could help, or know someone or something else that could.

So click here for a link to a range of publications and websites etc. that covers:

• Design
• Provision
• Community Toilet Schemes
• Building Regulations
• British Standards
• Government & Academic Research
• Further Reading

Hope it helps!

Alternatively email me at gail.knight@network.rca.ac.uk.

Any question answered! Even if I don’t know…

… Planning

The planned Localism Bill will “devolve greater powers to councils and neighbourhoods and give local communities control over housing and planning decisions,” which must mean that local people will be asked (or will offer) to get more involved.

Meanwhile the British Toilet Association are encouraging locals to fight for better public toilets through their ‘Where Can I Go?’ campaign; a ‘bottom up’ approach – getting locals to demand things from their local government. They’ve already tried the alternative top down version when they spoke as witnesses at the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) 2008 Select Committee into public toilets. But despite the committee’s recommendations, the DCLG refused to impose any statutory duty or national demands relating to public toilets: a new approach was needed.

So local governments make the decisions on public toilets and local people should get involved.

But how do local governments make decisions? and how do we get involved?

Planning seems like a big issue here.  Local authority toilets must be designed into town regeneration or urban planning processes.