The public toilets on Greyhound Street in Nottingham city centre now remain open until 1.00am on Friday and Saturday nights as well as on Sundays when they precede a bank holiday as a result of the Nottingham Business Improvement District (BID) and Nottingham City Council agreeing to jointly fund longer opening hours to the tune of £18,000 for an initial twelve month trial period.
The Greyhound Street toilets, just off King Street and close to the Old Market Square, are a fully accessible toilet and changing facility that is manned by a security officer. They offer a valuable service to a wide range of users, including those that need a loo after a night out in the city.
Councillor David Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Culture and Tourism said: “It is a positive move to keep Greyhound Street toilets open for longer over the really busy weekend periods. We have worked closely with the BID and I would like to thank them for helping to organise and fund this. It will make the city centre more accessible for everybody and will help improve general city centre cleanliness as well.”
Neil Fincham, chairman of the BID’s Place Management Advisory Group added: “Members of the BID, particularly the pubs, bars and restaurants in the city centre, have been keen to see the opening hours of these facilities being extended at weekends. By agreeing to fund the extended opening hours with the Council we are helping to create a more attractive environment for visitors to enjoy whilst they are on a night out at the weekend in the city.
“When you consider that the budget that we have jointly allocated to this equates to around £350 per week you have to regard it as money well spent. Usage has already increased fourfold since the late opening started to around 250 each weekend so there is definitely a demand and as more people become aware that they are open we are confident that these numbers will continue to rise. The environmental benefits include cutting the incidence of people urinating in the streets, thereby helping to improve cleanliness of city centre streets and reducing the amount of additional cleansing that is required.”
The toilets also have a “Changing Place Toilet” facility for people with mobility issues. This was installed as part of a major £500,000 renovation project in 2004 and was one of the first of its kind in the country.
The toilets open at 6.30am Monday to Saturday and from 7am on a Sunday morning, closing at 8pm each night, apart from the newly established late night provision which sees them close at 1am on a Friday and Saturday night.