Latest news with #publictoilets
BBC News
a day ago
- Business
- BBC News
Devon council to pay £250k to stop maintaining beach toilet
North Devon Council has agreed to pay £250,000 to surrender a lease agreement, meaning it will no longer operate and maintain public toilets on Saunton council entered into a 50-year lease to run the car park toilets with the landowners Christie Estates in 2002 but said the associated costs are now about £48,000 a strategy and resources committee approved the move on Monday and said more than £1m could be saved over the next 27 said Christie Estates could manage the facilities more effectively using their on-site staff and refurbish them with the money from the council. A small team of cleaners were struggling to keep the popular location's toilets maintained, according to the Local Democracy Reporting toilets needed a complete refurbishment after 23 years of heavy use which was estimated at a further £250,000, a report for councillors authority had looked at installing a payment system at the toilets to mitigate some costs, but this was refused by the beach lavatories owned and managed by beach owners are kept in much higher standard than those at Saunton beach car park, according to the members were told that closing the toilets was not an option. The council's director of resources Jon Triggs said when the lease was signed in 2002 it was "a different time" when the district council ran many more public conveniences than it did the last couple of years it had made the decision to pass public loos to town and parish councils."This gives us an opportunity to escape from the lease," he said. "It's a financial consideration but will make significant savings moving forward." The council's lease will be surrendered in November.
Independent Singapore
2 days ago
- General
- Independent Singapore
Singaporeans say SG has gotten dirtier in recent years
SINGAPORE: When a local Reddit user asked others on the platform whether they think Singapore has become 'noticeably dirtier' in recent years, they received a resounding 'yes' from commenters. 'I notice a lot more litter at bus stops, along sheltered walkways, and in void decks. Usually, tissue paper, drink containers, and plastic trash. Of course, not saying our streets were once totally spotless, but I think it's time we reinforced the anti-littering campaign and stepped up education in schools and neighbourhoods. No point being a cleaned city rather than a clean one by habit,' wrote u/Davemel50 in a post on r/askSingapore on Jun 1 (Monday). The top comment belonged to a Reddit user who lamented the state of many public bathrooms. 'It's indeed getting dirtier… especially toilets. I don't understand why coffee shops and hawker centre toilets can be so filthy. Like… why? And not to forget MRT toilets too,' they wrote. Another chimed in to say that they've observed that there are fewer cleaners and trash bins. 'Usually, when I use the toilet in malls, there's a 50/50 chance I will see a cleaner, but not recently. Like, where did all the cleaners go? There are also fewer bins around. Foreigners are an easy scapegoat, and may in fact contribute, but (I don't think) they're the root of the issue. With public transport and places getting so crowded nowadays, Singaporeans and foreigners alike might be losing their patience. Cleanliness will be the last thing on their minds.' In response to this, some have written that cleaners should be given better salaries to make the job more attractive to potential candidates. 'I hate to say this, but shopping mall toilets are reaching coffee shop and hawker toilet standards too… Anyhow throw their used tissues and empty packets on the floor too. The stench of urine is also terrible. I don't blame the cleaners for not wanting to wash up such dirty cubicles,' another added, writing that people who don't care about personal hygiene are to blame. '100%. I lived in Singapore (from) 2013 to 2014 and was mesmerised at how clean the toilets everywhere were, not just those in the atas malls. Now, the majority are poorly made, dirty, and unclean. Big difference in just over 10 years,' wrote a commenter. 'Even little India and Chinatown were cleaner just a decade ago,' one pointed out. A commenter from Vietnam wrote, '15 years ago, I heard SG was the cleanest city all around the world and went to SG for travel two times. I lived and worked here 1 year ago (basically newbie) but imo, SG got dirtier for real.' When another expressed the concern that not only has it gotten dirtier, but they also believe that there are 'a lot more' rats, many agreed. One pointed out, 'On the point of rats, I think that as cities age, they get dirtier. In the 2000s, our sewers were at most 10 to 20 years old for most HDB estates. Liken it to a human, Singapore was a teenager then. Now they're 40 to 50 years old. Our sewers become older, they will have more rats. New estates also do not really have rats.' /TISG Read also: Jack Sim asks why millionaire coffee shop owner would be given a grant to clean toilets
RNZ News
3 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Department of Conservation's unsung hero
DOC ranger is an unsung hero whose job is to clean public toilets at Canterbury's DOC sites and provide toilet paper. And replacing the loo paper is a mammoth job nationwide, with DOC revealing around 15-and-a-half kilometres of paper was ordered over the last year - that's long enough to stretch the length of the country nearly ten times. Ranger Daryl Sweeney answers other people's calls of nature, but he thinks it's about time people answered their own. Photo: Department of Conservation
BBC News
4 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Beach bar seeks to upgrade 'awful' council toilets at Southbourne
A popular beach cafe and bar is seeking to take over a council-run toilet block following complaints from customers about cleanliness and Beach in Southbourne, Bournemouth, says it often employs its own cleaners to "raise the standards" of the public toilets adjacent to its talks with Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council, the cafe has submitted a planning application to install what it describes as "serious upgrades", including showers and a Council said it was unable to comment on the plans but said its teams "worked hard to maintain the toilets to a high standard". Sobo's proposals include doubling the number of ladies' cubicles, installing a public changing area for swimmers and installing outdoor bar is also teaming up with the Saltwater Sauna to install Nordic-style saunas. Operations manager Rich Slater said: "Sadly the toilets lack the number of facilities required for the beach users - just three ladies' cubicles often means there's a long queue."And the council has limited cleaners looking after all the toilets along seven miles of beach, meaning they can be left in an awful state for hours at a time."Mr Slater said the new facilities would be accessible and remain free for public use but would be maintained and cleaned more said: "We hope this can become a model for how private businesses can improve public facilities at a time when councils all over the country face financial restrictions and public services are cut as a result."A BCP spokesperson said: "As this is a live application we are unable to comment on this specific site."In regards to the toilets across the seafront, our teams work hard to maintain the toilets to a high standard and ensure they are checked regularly throughout the day." You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Malay Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
‘We're not ready for tourists': Phuket eatery owner pleads for public toilets after messy incident
PHUKET, May 30 — The owner of a floating restaurant in Rawai has urged local authorities to build more public toilets for tourists after catching foreign visitors defecating on his property. According to Khaosod English, Pannatat Asawapitakchon said the issue has happened twice, most recently on May 22, when he witnessed a female tourist relieving herself outside his restaurant after closing hours. He confronted her and asked her to clean up the area. His social media post about the incident has since gone viral, drawing widespread support and calls for action. 'At first she didn't accept responsibility, but after talking for a while, she went to clean the spot where she had defecated. But it wasn't clean enough, so I had to clean it again myself. That's why I want to ask the relevant agencies about public restrooms – I'd like them to build restrooms in the Rawai Beach area,' he told the daily. In his social media post, the owner explained that when his restaurant is open, tourists are welcome to use the restrooms, even if they are not dining there. 'But what happened at my restaurant shows we're not ready to efficiently accommodate tourists. I don't know if other business operators have experienced this,' he wrote. He concluded his post with a simple request: 'I ask those involved to help solve this small problem. It's not urgent, but I'm raising the issue for future improvements. In the meantime, I'll probably have to keep cleaning up urine and faeces myself.'
