Toilets in Avenue to close to save money
Saturday 11th September 2010, 2:29PM BST.
TREASURY and Resources wants to save £110,000 by closing more public toilets.
It wants to revise opening times at four and permanently shut those in St Julian’s Avenue, although the toilets for those with disabilities will remain open.
Those at Petit Bot, Moulin Huet, Vazon south and Grandes Rocques will now close from 1 November until 28 February.
Public toilets are generally open throughout the year.
Treasury insists that the closures mean other toilets will be refurbished and cleaned more often.
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Presumably the laws will be changed so that when I want to take a pee, and cannot find anywhere else to do so, the police won’t take umbrage if I “water the grass”?
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Sorry, I am obviously missing something here. Whilst I totally sympathise with the difficulties that disabled people suffer, why should we able bodied persons be discriminated against by not allowing us the same privileges as disabled people have? Surely the same principles apply?
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There are too few public toilets in Guernsey as it is! As a regular pedestrian and public transport user (i.e. unable to drive home to use the toilet) I find the current provisions inadequate and would urge the States to review their decision to make a bad situation worse.
I got caught short the other day walking home from dinner at the in-laws’ on the Bridge to town, felt so delighted when I got to the toilets at the halfway only to find they were locked up. The nearest ones to that are North Beach which is a 20 minute walk at best, not really good enough in my book.
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Oh – of course – no-one uses those areas in the winter. Never mind – it’s only a short stroll from Moulin Huet to Jerbourg if you’re caught short whilst walking the dog, taking your children for a healthy walk, fishing off the rocks at MH – ditto for the other areas. I tell you what – easy solution – we’ll just all use our cars to get to the next available loo.
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The loos at the top of St Julian’s Av won’t be much missed but the town market development should have included some new toilets to replace the lost ones there.
Also, the so called toilet block and bus shelter at the half way is an absolute disgrace and should be razed to the ground. The Environment Dept should invite tenders for developers to erect a brand new glass fronted building with cafe, ultra modern toilet facilities and bus shelter at the back and give anyone willing to take on this project a 50 year lease for 1p. This would bring a whole new meaning to the concept of ‘spending a penny’.
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Sorry but I fail to see how closing 4 toilets will save £110,000.00? Seems like a well paid job!
Perhaps they should introduce a coin opereated system on the doors!
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Lots of people go out walking and there are very few public toilets around as it is. Cut down on sending states members on jollies/conferences etc and getting so called experts over to tell us how to run our own Island – then that would more than cover the cost of toilets. If you close Moulin Huet and Petit Bot then once you have left Jerbourg there will be absolutely nothing until you get to Pleinmont. At this rate it wont only be ‘dog mess’ that you might walk in………….
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Sorry but how can the states say they spend this much on our public toilets have you seen the state of them there a disgrace to the island an the states should be ashamed
When I visit jersey how come there public toilets are always clean and tidy???
Why don’t the states sort it rather than just close them get the unemployed to do there bit an tidy and decorate the toilets they don’t pay taxes but are happy to take our money it’s the hard working man/woman who pays
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Maybe the states should close a couple of toilets at the hospital if they can save that much and stop reducing important health costs…..
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FUB – Interesting point. I wonder if anyone at Treasury could explain how they arrive at this figure.
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Well what about getting rid of the complete waste of time and money that stood outside the bogs counting those in and out.
Actually there was probably two of them for health and safety reasons. And no doubt a manager, a senior manager and a committee to oversee this money saving excercise.
An example of States stupidity at its worst.
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Looks like were going to be in the s”@t now!!!
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Why do the States think that public toilets are only used by tourists and therefore the locals don’t need them out of season. So we should all stay in over the winter feeding ourselves up and getting no exercise and then be a burden on HSSD with heart problems etc. The toilets at the bus station are at best revolting – I have only had to use them a handful of times (thankfully) and on each occasion have found excrement smeared on walls in a couple of toilets – nice! I also have to say it is a bit discriminating that disabled members of the public are still able to use toilets (on top of a hill) but the able bodied of us are not.
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The only reasoning that can be behind not closing the disabled toilets while those for the ablebodied are closed is that disabled people cannot go “in the bushes”. Hardly responsible govenment is it.
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When zero ten was first muted I was working as a civil servant and I said to my colleagues back then, oh my goodness you just wait and see what cut backs the general public will have to put up with and sure enough this is just one of them, how awful is this, but there is not enough money to go around, to run Guernsey and it seems any suggestion to save money from the powers that be is just shouted down. We cannot go on spending money we don’t have, perhaps a few housewives on a tight budget would have more idea on how to balance the coffers, but this is the thin end of the wedge, closing public toilets.
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I hope our States members are keeping an eye on the Jersey States debate this week.
I believe they are trying to save 100M over the next three years
There’s no need to re-invent the wheel.If they come up with a brilliant idea don’t be too proud to pinch it and use it as our own
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Why can’t able-bodied individuals claiming unemployment benefit long-term be forced to perform community tasks, such as painting and maintaining public conveniences such as these? Whilst at it, they could also help clear litter and perform other relatively unskilled tasks for the benefit of the public who have been supporting them for so long. This also might provide the confidence and motivation for the long-term unemployed to find a regular job. Also, with no longer having the excuse of not being able to find a job, the States should also have the power to reduce benefit if they still refuse to work. Simple!
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So does this mean that any able-bodied person suffering from bladder or bowel conditions now has to apply for a disabled card in case they get caught short while waiting for a bus on St Julian’s Avenue, or elsewhere at the wrong time of year??
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Some good points on here but also some utter garbage.
Gilthead; the doors have had clickers on them. You wouldn’t know as you’ve obviously never used them. I have and I noticed.
Ray; SoJ have already cut museum opening hours, childrens school milk, zoo subsidies, teaching assistants, and put £15m into redundancies, plus they’re laying off 90 staff at Jersey Post. They’re also highly likely to put income tax up 5% in the next 12 months. There’s no silver bullet.
Numerous; of course a single loo doesn’t cost £110k. Read the full article / media release properly and you’ll see that comes from one closing and lots less winter cleaning. If you want cleaner loos for less money then you might consider applying to States Works as a cleaner, if you want more loos then lobby T&R for a tax raise.
I’d agree that the state of many of the popular loos is a disgrace but Valeite is right, this is the very thin edge of the wedge, not just for us but for Jersey, IoM, the UK and much of the rest of the world.
I’m also not defending the States itself, it’s in a shocking condition but threads like this make you realise how much of a parallel universe Guernsey citizens are currently living in….
Just my 2p.
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“Just my 2p” + VAT in Jersey
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The loss of any further public toilets could bring about serious problems for those in our community who need reassurance that there will be a facility in close range for emergency use, no matter how appalling the conditions. Some years ago I seem to remember hearing about a scheme (?) whereby people could obtain a discreet card from their surgery to present to shop owners, etc requesting use of staff facilities. Does anyone know if it does exist and, if so, could they make it public news, I am sure it will relieve a lot of people in more ways than one if this is the case.
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