Council agrees to spend £2.7m on public toilets refurb

A total of £2.7 million will be spent upgrading 11 of the busiest public toilets in the city, the council has agreed. 

The investment will see loos in the highest footfall areas, including the seafront, being refurbished over the next three years.

At the same time, the council has also agreed to end its contract with toilet company Healthmatic and begin running the service ‘in-house’.

The current contract will end on 31 January when the 36 loos will be directly maintained by the council. The current Healthmatic staff will then be employed by the council.

The move comes after the council decided it wanted more control over the cleaning, maintenance and refurbishment of the toilets.

Council leader Phélim Mac Cafferty said: “I’m delighted to announce the £2.7 million investment to refurbish key toilets in some of the busiest and most prominent areas of the city. 

“We know work is greatly needed to improve our public toilets, so we are pleased this investment will put us back on track, providing a higher quality service for residents and visitors alike.” 

The toilets earmarked for an upgrade are: Goldstone Villas, Hove Lagoon, Kings Esplanade, Lower Promenade East of Brighton Pier, Peter Pan, Royal Pavilion Gardens, Station Road, St Ann’s Well Gardens, The Colonnade, The Level and Western Esplanade.

Cllr Mac Cafferty added: “Cleaning and maintaining the council’s 36 toilets is an extremely important yet often difficult task. This is especially true during the summer months when they can get particularly busy and face high levels of anti-social behaviour. We are thankful to staff who have done this.

“We now feel it’s time to bring public toilets back in-house to ensure we have direct management and better accountability.”