After six years of campaigning to raise standards of public toilet provision, the British Toilet Association has been invited to attend a meeting with Local Government Minister Phil Woolas, to discuss ways of moving the public toilet provision agenda forward.

“This is the breakthrough we have been working towards for a long time” quotes BTA Director, Richard Chisnell. “With so many traditional public toilets closing and residents and visitors often left wondering where to “go”, there is a real quality of life crisis looming for all of us – especially the young and older members of society. Poor provision will also impact increasingly on public health and environmental issues, such as street cleanliness and infections associated with poorly maintained toilet facilities. There is also the need to address the serious question of anti-social behaviour in and around public toilets.

The BTA is hosting the 2005 World Toilet Summit in Belfast between 26th and 29th September in Belfast and is encouraging all toilet providers, product suppliers and user groups to attend, to help prepare a future provision strategy to put before the Minister on 11th October.

Previous annual Summits have all been held in the Far East, where toilet provision and minimum standards are high on the list of Government priorities – something the BTA is hoping to achieve here in the UK.

“We have over two hundred delegates already registered from fifteen different countries”, says Chisnell, “but we’re surprised that UK Local Authorities are not better represented. We know they recognise the importance of public toilet provision but it has a low priority because it's a discretionary service. We want the Summit to send a strong message to Government that Local Authorities need support and encouragement to provide this vital service. We can only present that message if they attend in numbers.”

Further details are available on the Summit website: www.2005worldtoiletsummit.com

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