TWO stories this week highlighting people’s concerns about urinating in the streets and lack of public toilets suggests a lack of joined-up thinking.
First we reported that people were spotted urinating in the streets around St Peter’s Gardens in full view of passersby and businesses.
Today a Quarmby man raised his own concerns about the lack of public conveniences in the town centre.
The lack of the latter prompts the former, it seems.
Toilets were once a common feature, usually housed in specially-built buildings and maintained by the local authority.
Slowly they have become run-down, no-go areas and closed down.
So what’s the alternative?
Thousands of people visit Huddersfield town centre every day and there are private-yet-public toilet facilities.
People can pop into a town centre cafe, pub or shop they previously didn’t intend to visit and hope the business owner doesn’t mind them using their facilities.
Perhaps it may be a bonus with people spending money at those businesses.
The alternatives are to run up to the bus station where there are public toilets or down to Queensgate Market – but they are not always open.
The council says it has no “legal requirement” to provide public toilets, but do they have an obligation to society to provide them in one of the biggest town centres in the country?
