Loos for Islington campaigners with Green and Independent councillors outside the Town Hall

“BROKEN and unhygienic” toilet provision in Islington is preventing vulnerable people from participating fully in public life, campaigners said during a debate at the Town Hall.

Loos for Islington brought a petition of 2000 signatures to the council in December calling for more and better access to bathroom facilities in the borough, which currently has just three public lavatories – no more than in October 2022.

Before the meeting where councillors were set to debate the issue, campaigners held a banner outside that said: “Are Islington Council taking the pi**!!”

Poet Leonie Philip, who looked striking with a toilet roll on a string around her neck, had prepared a poem that included the lines: “Islington do not ignore us or try to flush us out.

“We will not sit back and watch the loos go down the pan.

“When nature calls we cannot ignore it.

“Users of the loos will end up peeing all over the floor.”

Loos for Islington campaigner Cornelius McAfee told the council chamber last Thursday: “Poor provision ignores the needs of the vulnerable – pregnant women, young families, the disabled, pensioners and those, like myself, suffering the consequences of cancer.”

Loos for Islington was supported by Age UK London and several councillors, including Green Cllr Caroline Russell, who added postal workers and delivery riders to the list of those who would benefit from more accessible loos.

She said: “The fact that a group of older volunteers are going around our borough auditing our toilets, trying to bring this to our attention is a real alarm bell. We really ought to be able to do this much better.”

The council has committed £1m to replace seven automated public toilets (APTs), and will also create three changing place toilets for disabled people while encouraging local businesses to open their toilets to the public.

Equalities chief Cllr Sheila Chapman also said she had shared a draft “public toilet strategy” with campaigners before the meeting, but Mr McAfee criticised the “completely top down” decision-making process, pointing out that the draft had been developed with no resident involvement.

Cllr Chapman said she hoped to publish a final version of the strategy in the next three months.