A petition which was started to help stop the closure of public toilets across Bath is set to be handed in to Bath and North East Somerset Council today.
Today, 38 Degrees member Lin Patterson will step up her campaign to save Bath’s public toilets after last week, in an extraordinary act of protest, the 67 year old lived, slept and ate while locked in her local public toilet for three days.
Lin’s protest was supported by the petition she set up on the 38 Degree’s Campaigns by You website.
Lin’s petition has now reached almost 2,500 signatures and will be presented to Bath and Somerset Council this (Friday) morning. The petition is a message from the people of Bath that the council cannot close such essential public amenities.
The campaigners say that “the council is facing an embarrassing step down as only last week Councillor David Dixon dismissed Lin’s petition as ‘pointless’, arguing that the closures should go ahead.
“Due to the ground swell of public support for Lin’s campaign the council are being forced to listen to her concerns. 38 Degrees have supported Lin throughout her campaign and are excited to see it reach this next step.”
Lin’s petition states the following information which many local residents have been agreeing with:
“Around 1 in 5 people suffer with a variety of urinary or bowel problems and need convenient, accessible loos. In particular older people, pregnant women and those with young children will be hard hit by the closures. Losing the loos will lead some people to stay at home rather than risk being caught short.
“A lack of public toilets will also affect local businesses and traders as well as increasing the risk of people urinating on the street, a public health hazard.
“Nearly 2500 people already signed paper petitions to preserve this vital facility yet incredibly there has been no public consultation on these plans. The relatively small amount of money saved in the short term will be cancelled out by longer term effects and untold daily misery for vulnerable people and all those who need to ‘go’.”
