'Spend a penny' toilets to be reopened on common

Public toilets on a city-centre common are due to reopen.

As many loos as "practical and feasible" will be available for use on Parker's Piece in Cambridge immediately, the city council's cabinet heard on Tuesday.

As part of a "phased" approach, options for the future of both those toilets and those on Quayside — including payment options for users and operating costs — will be heard by the cabinet in the autumn.

It follows a deal between the city council's Labour and Liberal Democrat groups after May's local elections which saw the former party install the council leader.

There is due to be an evaluation of contactless charging and a "detailed condition review", council papers stated.

In February, the Liberal Democrats claimed the Parker's Piece toilets were "closed based on usage data which was heavily impacted by availability of access only by coins... prior to Covid-19 these public toilets were heavily used and clearly provided an important service".

Martin Smart, Labour Cabinet Member for Nature, Open Space and City Services, told cabinet the council "took the decision to close Parker's Piece toilets in good faith".

"On council finances... there were and continue to be pressures that need careful management," he said.

"However, these proposed changes can be managed.

"The details of toilet management are complex and we want to get on with the job to bring forward the reopening of toilets on Parker's Piece."

He said the council had "already decided" to open the Quayside toilets, between Bridge Street and Jesus Green.

The council has also agreed to employ four temporary staff to provide street cleaning capacity at "priority hotspots", as well as additional public realm enforcement staff.

Tim Bick, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, appealed to Smart "to help make this sustainable" and "to bring forward a statement of standard for street cleaning, enforcement and public toilets that we can use to guide policy and resourcing going forward".

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