FEEDBACK: Bakers Lane Disabled Toilets

Further to my earlier article regarding the state of the disabled toilets at Bakers Lane car park in Epping, I have now had the opportunity to draw this matter to the attention of Epping Town Council. Ironically, I am unable to attend Council meetings at the moment having recently had an operation myself, which has temporarily left me reliant on a wheelchair / crutches, but Members discussed this matter in my absence!

To give you some background on this matter, the Town Council took over the toilet block 4 years ago when Epping Forest District Council installed a new automatic toilet (which is accessible for those with disabilities and located right next to the block of toilets). The original toilets were going to be demolished but the Town Council believed that Monday Market users may have suffered from the limited capacity of the one automatic toilet, which many people are wary of using, so decided to obtain a lease and take over the management of the toilet block to allow the public a free traditional facility.

When I received Penny Pepper’s complaint, I called for an immediate review of the facilities which showed that the toilets were far from new, however, they are being cleaned on a daily basis and are opened early in the morning and closed at night and that the units are maintained in serviceable order (pictures displayed) in spite of considerable vandal problems.

From Ms. Pepper’s YouTube video, I notice that a previous user neglected to flush the toilet. I also noted there was aged signage reading ‘INVALID’, which has since been removed at my request. The video does, however, reveal a toilet role in the holder, a correctly positioned and adequate toilet seat and a lack of rubbish on the ground. Soap is provided, lighting levels are adequate and a hand dryer is in good working order.

Undoubtedly the toilets are in need of refurbishment, but given Council‘s belief that the facilities meet an acceptable standard and that there is a more modern alternative just next door (as well as facilities available in Café Unico where Ms. Pepper had been) it was Council’s belief that there should be no further action in this matter. Of course, if funding were freely available, it would be very desirable to do a complete refurbishment and to replace the stained stainless steel equipment, the worn floor tiles and old fashioned wall tiles, but given the strained economic climate and the long ‘wish list’ of the people of Epping, there are no immediate plans in place to carry out this work.

For information, the total amount spent on the toilet block during the 2008 financial year was £6,199.00, which included some repair work for the roof work which was vandalised.