IT WOULD be hard to put forward an argument that public toilets are not a public good, along with our hospitals, schools, common spaces.
On a recent trip to Poole I visited the quay and went to see the public toilets in the Dolphin Quay development.
Half-dreading that this dank, dark, concrete, nastiness of construction would be open and half-dreading they would be closed, entailing a long walk to Poole Bridge toilets. They were closed.
They do not appear to have even been owned by the council.
Poole is a nice town with a lovely quay. People come to enjoy the activities, views and facilities.
There are public toilet providers that win awards, Wychavon District Council, Chichester Council.
To quote the economist John Kenneth Galbraith (Age of Uncertainty, 1972) in relation to public services ‘– nothing is so important as to agree that the nature of these services is public and then to ensure that their performance is not merely a matter of adequacy but of pride’.
There are too few public toilets in Poole. Closed because of expense, vandalism or whatever.
The need for public toilets doesn’t similarly go away.
BCP Council needs to provide well-managed and pleasant public toilets. It is the bottom line of pride in public services.
CAROL PEDIANI
Kings Road, Blandford
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