Following a three-and-a-half year battle, campaigners are “delighted” that new public toilets are set to be installed in a Green Flag park in North London. The local council has confirmed that £150,000 has been secured to build toilets that are “much stronger and harder to vandalise”.
Brent Council closed the Roundwood Park public toilets in 2022 due to the costs associated with repairing them after they were repeatedly damaged – which, on occasions, happened just days after being refurbished, according to the local authority.
Since their closure, campaigners have been fighting to get the toilets replaced – including holding a protest there last summer where they described the lack of facilities as a “public health issue”. The council has now announced that new stainless steel toilets will be installed in time for summer.
The £150,000 funding comes from the Government’s Pride in Place Impact Fund, which supports long-term improvements to communities across the country. Brent Council has said it is “proud to have brought some of this funding to Roundwood Park”.
Just last month, campaigners feared they were “facing yet another spring and summer without toilets”, which had meant some park-goers were resorting to “using bushes to relieve themselves”. They says the lack of toilet facilities prevents many residents from using the park often, or in some cases at all – particularly parents with children, disabled people, or the more elderly.
Harlesden resident Kevin Buck – who alongside his wife had been asking the council to reopen the toilets since July 2022 – said he was “delighted to hear of the project”. Another resident, Rose Routh, called it “fantastic news” that the council had “at last taken notice” of those who had long been campaigning for the reopening of the facilities.
Following the announcement, one of the leading campaigners, Amandine Alexandre – who is also a Green Party candidate for Harlesden – criticised the council for having “repeatedly rebuffed” park users over the past few years for asking that the toilets be reopened and accused it of “performing hat tricks” ahead of May’s election.
Cabinet Member for Environment and Enforcement, Cllr Krupa Sheth, said: “The public toilets in Roundwood Park were unfortunately repeatedly damaged by selfish vandals. Each time this happened, it cost the council tens of thousands of pounds to repair, and the facilities eventually had to be temporarily closed.
“We want the park to be accessible and welcoming for everyone, so we have been working hard – with the ward councillors for Roundwood and Harlesden and Kensal Green, who have been persistently and doggedly lobbying me on this issue – to identify funding for new, more durable public toilets. We are pleased to report that £150,000 has now been secured to install new stainless steel toilets, which are much stronger and harder to vandalise.”
Grant Williams is a journalist and Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) for Reach PLC, reporting on local government, politics and community issues across London. As part of the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he has contributed to Harrow Online, covering council decisions, housing developments, transport, planning matters and stories affecting local communities across Harrow and Brent.
