Work to expand public toilets in Glasgow parks set to continue, council reports show

Work to expand Glasgow’s public toilet provision is set to continue, according to fresh council reports.

Glasgow City Council implemented its Public Toilet Strategy 2025 – 2035 after a petition on the need for public toilets was submitted to the council in April 2021.

A motion was then brought before full council in October 2023 which stated that access to clean, accessible toilets, which met the needs of people of all genders and abilities, was a basic requirement of health, hygiene and personal safety.

Since then a working group, made up of the local authority, Police Scotland and the British Toilet Association (BTA) was set up to develop the public toilet strategy.

The BTA were also asked to review how public toilet services are provided in Glasgow.

In 2023/24 Glasgow was allocated £250,000 via the Scottish Government’s The Place Fund (TPF) to deliver new or enhanced toilet facilities at selected Glasgow parks.

A total of £90,000 was set aside for facilities in Bellahouston Park, £60,000 at Botanic Gardens cafe and £100,000 at Tollcross Park next to the Winter Gardens.

During a recent environment and liveable neighbourhoods committee meeting councillor Eunis Jassemi said: “Will this project be expanded further to the wider Glasgow city?”

A council officer confirmed that the project was indeed wider than the city centre.

They said: “The automated public toilet provision focuses on the city centre but there are lots of other public toilet provisions that we are looking to improve within parks, such as Victoria Park, Queens Park, Bellahouston Park and Tollcross Park.

“If we are able to get more funding then we can look at what else we can do. So yes it is about the wider Glasgow but we have to be mindful of the funding with this and staying within our current budget which is always a challenge which is why we are looking to explore further funding opportunities.”