Bath Public Toilet Occupation: Day 4

Twerton Toilet Occupation

It's official: As of 8pm today the occupation of the Twerton public toilets has ended. After spending 3 nights in the toilet and collecting 2000 petition signatures online and a further 400 outside the toilets, Lin Patterson has left the building. On hearing the news, Occupy Bath posted on Facebook: "BREAKING NEWS - Lin has ended the occupation! She just informed us over the phone and said that she has accomplished what she set out to do. Lin will be appearing as a guest on Daybreak on ITV on Monday morning. The petition is now at 1983 signatures and additionally there are around 400 signatures on a paper petition collected outside the toilets. Well done Lin!!!"

Earlier today, Lin issued the following statement: "A big thank you to all 38 Degrees people who have signed the petition to save our public toilets in Bath. You are amazing. Please ask your family, friends and work colleagues to sign the petition and continue to share it by e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/keep-our-public-toilets-open

Both Councillors for Twerton have visited outside the toilets and it seems there may be 2 rays of hope - but nothing is certain , so it would NOT be wise to think the Twerton toilets are safe yet.

First, the disabled toilet is the only wheelchair accessible one in the area, even the football ground has been relying on it to fulfill their statutory obligation to provide equal access. So an Equalities Impact Assessment has been called for, which MAY keep the toilets open for 3 months - possibly.

Then negotiations are going on with nearby establishments. This is possibly the football ground or Morrisons, who have bought the old Blockbuster building, to subsidize the existing toilets and hold the RADAR key for the disabled cubicle. So a lot of maybes.
In the meantime the community can keep up the pressure, now that more people are aware.

So many times today and yesterday, I wished I could film the passion and clarity of those who approached to sign, and their outrage over the possibility of closure.

A couple of 14 year old girls held the fort with the petition table for an hour while I took a much needed nap. They counted the signatures, which now total 309 in 2 days.

Considering most of those people were either using the loo or making a special trip, that is phenomenal. So between the 2 petitions in 2 days, we've topped 2000. Has this happened in Bath before? Sometimes you can be almost overcome by the goodness of people. Let's hope the council will recognize the changed landscape."

Councillor David Dixon, to whom the petition is addressed said "Once I have received the petition I can ensure a full response"

Standing Stone's Blog will report on the outcome of the petition when the time comes.

Congratulations Lin, and well done for standing up for ordinary people.

More on this story:
Day 1: http://standingstonesblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/bath-resident-occupies-twerton-public.html
Day 2: http://standingstonesblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/bath-public-toilet-occupation-day-2.html
Day 3: http://standingstonesblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/bath-public-toilet-occupation-day-3.html