Southwark underground stations could be considered for public toilets after £3 million funding for public toilets on the underground was secured.
Last week, Caroline Russell AM, Leader of the City Hall Green Group, won the funding for public toilets on the Transport for London (TfL) network, after years of campaigning.
Caroline commented: “Public toilets aren’t just a matter of convenience – for many Londoners, knowing there are clean, safe, and accessible toilets on the Tube can be the difference between saying yes to the event, going to the shops, or simply visiting friends.”
Asked if Southwark would be considered, she said: “While I believe every Tube station should have a public toilet accessible to passengers, stations in Southwark present a particularly urgent need for new TfL toilets, as they sit just at the end of the network’s largest ‘loo desert’.”
The longest ‘loo desert’ is the 12 stops between Morden and Elephant and Castle on the Northern line, according to a report authored by Russell last summer.
She continued: “Once the Mayor’s long-awaited feasibility study comes out, I’m eager to dig into the details in planning here.”
The news came as a pleasant surprise for John McGeachy, Campaigns Manager for Age UK – who has been advocating for more public toilets in Southwark for a while and said he ‘wasn’t aware’ of there being any funding.
“To find out there is money is brilliant and it’s great if Southwark is considered,” he told us.
“It’s really welcome news because we know people are not making the journeys they want to because the lack of toilets is preventing them from making the journeys in the first place.”
According to research conducted by Age UK London last year (2022), 90 per cent of Londoners have considered public toilet provision before making a journey and over 52 per cent said they sometimes reduce the amount they drink before leaving home.
The Loos for Southwark campaign, made up of mainly pensioners in the borough, demanded action after the council voted against a ‘public toilet strategy’ when asked at last month’s council assembly.
Currently, there are 44 public toilets in Southwark – including 33 maintained by the council, but the group maintain there are not enough.
Their main request is that the council set up a Community Toilet Scheme – whereby businesses sign up granting public access to the toilets in their buildings within chosen times.
As well as increasing the number of available toilets, this would also limit the cost of new toilets having to be built.