Agenda item

Attendee:

·           Jonathan Keen - Regulatory Services Manager Environment and Community

The Regulatory Services Manager Environment and Community presented a brief overview to the Committee and highlighted the key areas for consideration.

The Council are required to produce a Local Toilet Strategy by Part 8 of the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017: Provision of Toilets. This came into force on the 31 May 2018. The overall aim of this Strategy was to review where public toilets are currently provided in Newport and establish an action plan to ensure adequate toilet facilities are available in the future to meet the needs of the public.

Members asked the following:

·                Members of the Committee expressed an interest and welcomed the strategy, stating that they would like to see a commitment from the strategy, so that residents and visitors to Newport know about the facilities and the Council commit to keeping them open and available.

·                A Member of the Committee commented on the list of toilet facilities recorded in the report, advising that there were more toilets to be added to the list mentioning Newport Centre as one of them. The Officers replied to the Committee confirming that a list of additional public toilets in Newport would be welcomed to add to the draft strategy. The Officer confirmed that Newport Centre was not happy to open all of their toilet facilities to the public.

·                A Member asked the Officer to confirm timescales for the Toilet Strategy. The Officer replied explaining that strategy needed to be added to the forward work plan by the summer, going back out to public consultation before heading back to Cabinet in 2020.

·                A Member of the Committee spoke about Welsh Government recognising the issues with public toilets and offering funding for private owned toilets, stating that it might be an idea for Newport to take on board. The Officer confirmed that money from the funding for that was no longer separated out, but may look at a Neutral Gender facility to save space.

·                Members commented on the key points raised by Newport Access Group, agreeing that some of the points raised needed to be taken into consideration as modern electrical wheelchairs are very wide and would possibly need a double width toilet for disabled residents and visitors to the area.  

·                A Member expressed concerns regarding the need for a range of the following toilet facilities in the City Centre; 24-hour toilets, temporary toilets and attended toilets. It was also mentioned that a contribution could be sought from nightclubs and pubs for providing the facility.

The Chair thanked the officers for attending.

Conclusion - Comments to the Cabinet

The Committee noted the Draft Toilet Strategy and agreed to forward the minutes to the Cabinet Member as a summary of the issues raised.

The Committee wished to make the following comments to the Cabinet Member:

1.    Updated ActionPlan to be circulated to the Committee

2.    The Committee requested that the final report be added to the forward work programme for July.

3.    The Committee requested that a feasibility study be undertaken to assess the need for a 24hr provision for City Centre

4.    The Committee commented that the Council should commit to supporting public toilets in parks.