‘Undo the loo leash’: Campaigners plead with council for more accessible toilets in Islington

Resident and campaigner Cornelius McAfee. Photograph: Josef Steen / free for use by LDRS partners

Campaigners are calling on Islington Council to boost the number of accessible public toilets in the borough, warning that the current lack is a “serious public health concern”.

A petition started by activist Loos for Islington, supported by Age UK, was debated in the Town Hall chamber on Thursday after garnering more than 2,000 signatures last year.

The group’s spokesperson Cornelius McAfee, 71, told the chamber: “Islington has long prided itself for its diversity and inclusivity.

“Poor provision ignores the needs of the vulnerable – pregnant women, children and families, disabled pensioners, those like myself suffering from the consequences of cancer – and prevents us from participating fully in the pleasures of urban life.

“This is a question of social equity.”

The petition demanded the council publish and deliver a public toilet strategy for the borough, as well as “meaningfully engage” with residents about what improvements would be required.

Campaigners want to see new facilities made available in town centre shopping areas, such as Archway and Nags Head, as well as improved signage and communications so that they are “accessible to all”.

McAfee, a retired history teacher and lifelong resident, criticised the local authority’s “top-down” decision-making process so far delivering slow progress – with its new strategy only recently presented to the group, “without prior resident involvement”.

He also attacked the controversial installation of automated public toilets (APT), which had been notoriously unreliable.

“All the redundant APTs have been removed, and will be replaced by new ones. These are prone to mechanical failures and anti-social behaviour, unless properly maintained,” Mr McAfee added.

“The borough has the same number of working public lavatories – three – as were operational two and a half years ago. Surely we can do better?”

Islington’s equalities, communities and inclusion chief, Cllr Sheila Chapman, said: “This Labour council absolutely recognises the importance of providing accessible public toilets.

“It’s a public health issue, it’s an equalities issue, and it’s key to ensuring everyone can take full advantage of everything this borough has to offer.”

She thanked the campaigners for raising the issue, and stressed that after having met with Loos for Islington in recent weeks, her department was devising a draft strategy to address their petition’s “helpful” demands.

Cllr Chapman confirmed the council had a budget of £1m to replace out-of-order APTs, which will now operate “24/7”, though she acknowledged previous service failures.

She added that the council was in the midst of a business engagement campaign with “the specific aim of increasing the provision of toilets by getting businesses to sign up to the Toilets 4 London App”.

In 2021, the Observer newspaper reported that cash-strapped councils had been forced to scrap a fifth of their conveniences to protect funding for frontline services.

Cllr Caroline Russell (Green) said: “It is absolutely shocking that because of austerity, we have across the country got into a situation where we don’t even know how many toilets have been lost.

“It is welcome that Cllr Chapman is talking about a strategy that we’re getting.”

She cast doubt on whether replacing APTs was the best strategy, as they were “not quite as good as a proper toilet”, while stressing the importance of keeping up engagement with residents over where new lavatories could be installed.

“It is really, really important that we keep pushing.”