Edinburgh needs to stop taking the **** over public toilets – Steve Cardownie

With fine weather being forecast for the rest of the week, it is inevitable that we will once again witness crowds of people congregating in our parks and open spaces.

People who have been cooped up in flats during lockdown will no doubt avail themselves of the opportunity to picnic and soak up the sun, particularly if they have young children.

However, we have seen that such gatherings have been confronted with the problem of getting “caught short” when the city council’s public lavatories are closed, which has led to inappropriate areas being used as makeshift loos.

Why, if the council has recognised that there is a problem, is it taking so long for action to be taken and the conveniences being re-opened?

We are told that the public lavatories are closed because it is “not possible” to operate them safely. What? So they would be less safe than urinating behind a bush or a tree or up an alley with no cleansing materials available whatsoever? Families should not be put in this position nor should children in particular run the risk of inadvertently seeing someone relieving themselves.

I know that this practice is anti-social but that will matter little to someone who is so desperate that they would countenance peeing in a public space. The council is waiting on a report at the end of the month on how the conveniences can be re-opened. Why? The department should be instructed to act now, waiting until a report is cleared at a committee at the end of the month is not an effective method of dealing with this problem.

Somebody, somewhere is taking the ****!

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