Retail going down the toilet?

A voluntary scheme will encourage Sydney retailers, cafes and other businesses to open their toilets to the public. Resource-22

The open door policy, coupled with 15 new public toilets in city streets and parks, is part of the City of Sydney’s plan to provide more high quality, accessible public amenities.

A draft strategy to go before the next Council meeting will make quality public toilets available in every suburb and major park, with no-one having to walk more than 400m to find a public toilet in the city and village centres.

City research reveals people want more toilets that are easier to find and that the most popular public toilets are in shopping centres.

Some overseas cities display signs advising people their toilets are available for public use and the City’s Director of Operations, Garry Harding, said the City would consider a trial here.

“This strategy is designed to give visitors to Sydney more clean, easily accessible public toilets. We want to investigate whether business has a role to play in doing that,” says Garry Harding, Cityof Sydney director of operations.

“Shopping centres attract the highest number of people using public toilets, and we’d like to discuss with other businesses the issues involved in making their toilets available to the public,” Harding said.

“We know an issue for the public is not only the number of toilets available, but finding them, so the strategy recommends more maps, signs and other measures to help people locate them.

The City operates about half of the local government area’s 117 public toilet facilities, with the remainder provided by shopping centres and government agencies, including the Royal Botanic Gardens and RailCorp.

The strategy also recommends retractable pop-up urinals, which are widely used in Europe, for the entertainment precincts of Kings Cross, George Street and Oxford Street.

For more information visit: www.cityofsydney.nsw.com.au

You have 7 articles remaining. Unlock 15 free articles a month, it’s free.