Developers in Bristol to be asked to include public toilets on ground floors of large buildings

Property developers in Bristol will be asked to include public toilets on the ground floors of large buildings. All new buildings, which face the street on the ground floor, must include toilets accessible to the public under a new policy planned by Bristol City Council.

The new rule was revealed as part of the council’s new Local Plan, a sprawling document which covers a massive range of rules on how developers can get planning permission for new buildings across Bristol. It’s expected to come into force by spring 2025.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, the Bristol Labour group said: “All new major front-facing developments should have public toilets. This includes all developments with shops on the ground floor and flats above — a type of mixed use development we’re promoting in Bristol.”

Five years ago the council controversially shut 18 public toilets across the city, but a new scheme was set up to replace the lost loos, called the Community Toilet Scheme. Shops, cafes, pubs and other venues offer their toilets to the public, free to use.

But last year campaigners from Acorn, a community union, carried out research and found that most of the toilets didn’t clearly show they were part of the scheme, and some even stopped members of the public from using their toilets without first ordering something.

The new draft Local Plan was recently published, ahead of a full council meeting on October 31. Councillors will vote on signing off the draft, before going to a full public consultation. Next year, the plan will go to the government’s planning inspectors to review all the evidence, before the final document is due to be signed off by the council in spring 2025.

The new Local Plan policy on public toilets states: “Major developments that are open to the public should provide and secure the future management of free, publicly accessible toilets suitable for a range of users including disabled people, families with young children and people of all gender identities; and free ‘Changing Places’ toilets.

“Toilets and changing facilities provided should be clearly identifiable and located at readily accessible parts of the development which facilitate public access. This policy is also applicable to major developments outside centres where they are open to the public. The policy expects provision to be located where it enables access and does not deter use.”