Needing to spend a penny? Tap and go
‘Commitment to future of toilets’
IT’S that moment of desperation when you’re caught short while out and about, but don’t have a coin for the slot in the lavatory door.
Now, however, a Scots council is making it much easier to spend a penny in such moments of need – by fitting a growing number of public toilets with contactless card readers.
Highland Council, the local authority with the largest number of public toilets in the UK, is converting a number of its facilities to take card payments.
It was the first council in Scotland to introduce a cash-free option at a toilet in Aviemore, Inverness-shire, in 2016. Now, it is rolling out the scheme to a further ten lavatories out of its 96.
Updated loos will have coin slots as well as card readers – charging 50p to answer nature’s call.
Councillor Allan Henderson, chairman of the environment, development and infrastructure committee, said: ‘If I was making an educated guess, I would say that we are the first local authority in Scotland to roll contactless out to multiple public toilets.
‘Highland Council has the biggest portfolio of public toilets in the whole of the UK and going contactless shows a commitment to their future.’
He added that like ‘every other council’ the authority cannot see into the future but ‘you have to move with the times’.
‘There is the possibility this move could enable the council to earn more revenue, as it means people won’t wander off elsewhere because they don’t have the right coins,’ Mr Henderson said.
I know it’s a method of payment that is actually very, very handy and I suppose if you think about toilets, it’s possibly even more hygienic.’ The council is understood to be the first Scots authority to introduce a mass rollout of contactless payment toilets.
Borders Council piloted a similar system at a facility in Galashiels, Selkirkshire, last year.
South Lanarkshire Council sparked controversy in 2015 when it closed all of its public loos.
Public toilets have existed in UK towns and cities for more than 150 years, though there is no legal requirement for councils to provide them.
They were pioneered by George Jennings at the Great Exhibition at Hyde Park, London, in 1851. A total of 827,280 visitors paid one penny to use them. The phrase ‘to spend a penny’ became a euphemism after the success of the WCs, which spread across the country in the Victorian era.
But in 2016, a Freedom of Information request found that 2,000 facilities had closed in ten years across the UK despite NHS estimates that between three and six million Brits experience a degree of urinary incontinence. Mr Henderson believes the move to contactless has been a success since its rollout in September.
He said: ‘To be honest, we’ve had no feedback since its introduction and usually when you have no feedback it means it’s been well received. Unfortunately, you normally only get feedback when it’s adverse.’
He added: ‘We really want to make it as easy as possible for people to have access while still being able to financially maintain our network of toilets.’
A Highland Council spokesman said: ‘The council recognises its conveniences make a significant contribution to making the place an attractive destination for visitors, businesses and residents.’