A relief to read safety notice in Hastings toilet

At the start of the current crisis, one of the first actions carried out by HBC was to close all public toilets in the town. I did feel this was a rather dramatic approach and it would have been possible to keep a limited number operational.

Even under the tightest restriction it is bizarre to think that no-one would have had legitimate need for relief for example young children, key workers carrying out work in the town etc. This paper carried a number of items highlighting some of the difficulties caused by this action.

When the first relaxation of the restrictions was announced and the Government was encouraging people to exercise as much as they liked, I thought that there may be a change to the public toilet situation.

Yes, there was! A series of new posters appeared everywhere stating: “All public toilets in Hastings are closed”. Perhaps the reality and unpleasantness of no toilets available anywhere was starting to soak in. They may also have realised that some desperate people would be forced to adopt the “If doorways and underpasses are full, the beach is still available” policy.

This may have finally caused some concern and, luckily coincided with the relaxation allowing other shops to open. Suddenly all posters were gone and toilets were open. This provided an unexpected and unintended moment of great humour. I visited the Gents at the Stade.

For those not familiar with the facility, this a very large room with a long wall. Along this wall are mounted some 15 or more entirely separate and well-spaced individual urinals. Each has an electronically controlled auto-flush after each use. As a result, this establishment has won and, quite rightly displays the certificates of excellence. In all it is a very clean and pleasant to use facility.

A notice has been attached the wall above only the middle individual urinal which amusingly reads: “Only one person should use this urinal at a time to ensure social distancing”. It is a shame that the person who organised this notice failed to realise that there is only ever one user at a time. This is perfectly normal mode of use for this type of urinal. I agree, this notice would be relevant in the much smaller “short communal trough” facilities.

Anyway, Hastings council, for this much needed relief , thank you.

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