Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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BTA Conference had solutions
The British Toilet Association's Annual Conference provides once a year opportunity for providers of publicly accessible toilets to network with product and service suppliers, as well as user group representatives, to discuss best practice and learn what can and is being done to improve toilets throughout the UK. It also provides an ideal opportunity to recognise the cutting edge of washroom product development and service provision. This year's Conference, which was held in Stratford on Avon last Wednesday, provided some real solutions.
Following the Conference opening by Chairman Richard Chisnell, BTA Director Mike Bone provided an overview of the preceding 12 months which included details of meetings and activity involving other associations and organisations at home and abroad, events and presentations, promotion and publicity. BTA consultancy, advice and information services were reviewed and membership trends discussed.
Gillian Kemp, BTA Management Committee Member, launched the 'We need the loo' campaign, a joint venture between the Women's Design Group, BTA and the Chartered Institute of Plumbing & Heating Engineering. The campaign is promoting an online petition to ask Government to make adequate public toilet provision a legal requirement - www.epetitions.direct.gov.uk The expectation is that the petition gets at least 100,000 signatures and will be eligible for debate in the House of Commons.
Richard Berry, Scrutiny Manager from the Greater London Assembly, opened the second session - providing delegates with an explanation of the status of public toilet provision in London and the GLA's Public Toilets in London Report. Mary Milne, Senior Campaigns Officer for Age UK, then explained how toilet closures impact the ageing population UK wide.
In the forth presentation Christian Harris, Director of Bonasystems, demonstrated how slips in toilets could be prevented by improving the safety of floors. Christian was followed by Roger Berry, Managing Director of Healthmatic, explaining how Healthmatic, in association with the South Bank Employers Group, would be providing a new public toilet block on the South Bank in London, near the London Eye, where 13.8 million visitors a year currently have 'nowhere to go'!
The final session was a discussion on the 10 things that local authorities need to know to protect public toilets from closure. The Conference delegates were very concerned at the effect the current financial situation is having on Local Authority budgets and the likely impact on provision of public toilets. The solutions discussed provided delegates with ideas and case studies that overcome many of the issues that are currently leading to increasing numbers of public toilet closures.
The Conference closed with an Open Forum and the BTA Annual General Meeting followed.
T: 01403 258779
E: [email protected]
W: www.britloos.co.uk / www.loo.co.uk
29th September 2011