The relief of Monmouth Street!

The improvement works at the Monmouth Street (Seven Dials) public toilets are  apparently complete and they have re-opened for people to use – but you’ll have to have 20 pence to get in.  This is part of Bath & North East Somerset Council’s £3.3 million contract to improve public conveniences across the area.

Councillor David Dixon (Lib-Dem, Oldfield), Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said, “Bath & North East Somerset Council is working hard to get the balance right between offering good quality, sustainable, well placed public conveniences and an affordable proposition for local taxpayers in the long-term.

New cubicle at Monmouth Street

“The commitment through the £3.3m contract means that 15 public toilets in parks, play areas, green spaces and key transport hubs are staying open. The Council’s contract with Healthmatic Ltd will also provide comprehensive cleaning and management services for fifteen years.”

The new cubicles include:
High standards of cleanliness and safety and able to handle large numbers of people using them
Large enough for a parent with a couple of small children and a pushchair to use together
High-tech controls means access will be 24 hours / 7 days a week all year or the timers can be adjusted remotely to suit local needs
Access by coin entry to a private cubicle with its own hand-washing and drying facilities (as with the existing auto-loos in Bath and North East Somerset which have been operating successfully for 10 years)
Built into the existing toilet buildings, disability compliant with secure, safe sharps boxes

Removal of the corridors to the male/female separate areas at Monmouth Street to deter anti-social misuse and vandalism
The inside is resistant to vandalism and misuse with an easy clean tiled interior and hard-wearing fittings
Problems are detected remotely enabling rapid response by Healthmatic’s engineering and maintenance teams.

All of the refurbished facilities will be charged at 20p for use, in order to make the contract sustainable.

There are over 110 councils all over the UK with Healthmatic toilets, from busy night-time city centres like Glasgow to tourist destinations like the Cotswolds, Oxfordshire and North Somerset.