The door of a public toilet showing a card reader and coin slot

Card payments now accepted at public toilets

Visitors caught short no longer need to worry about not having change to access the public toilets following the installation of card readers to two cubicles.

Knutsford Town Council provides two public toilet blocks in the town centre, one at the bus station and another on King Street car park near the Moor. Each block comprises three toilets – a female, unisex and unisex accessible.

The unisex accessible cubicles, which also include a baby change table, can now be accessed by credit/debit card and contactless payments. This is in addition to access via a RADAR key or coin.

“We know that an increasing number of people don’t carry cash so wanted to ensure that accessing our public toilets is easy for everyone who needs to.” said Town Clerk Adam Keppel-Green.

The Town Council will be reviewing the impact of the card terminals on usage at the toilets and may consider adding terminals to the other cubicles in the future.

Alongside the installation of the new card payment terminals, the usage fee for the public toilets has also increased to 30p. The 20p charge was introduced when the Town Council took on public toilets in 2013 and contributes to the annual cost of cleaning and repairs. The Town Council consulted its contractor, Danfo, who provide public toilets across the country who highlighted that 30p is now the standard cost for most public toilets.

Knutsford’s public toilets have consistently been recognised for their high quality in industry awards (yes, there are awards for toilets). The toilets were awarded Gold/Platinum in the Loo of the Year awards until 2021 and subsequently given a 4-star rating by the British Toilet Association.

Cllr Peter Coan holds a door open and an arm out welcoming you to a building

Council creates space for new businesses

New business premises have been created in the town centre by converting previously redundant space in the town’s public toilet buildings.

Knutsford Town Council took ownership of the public toilet buildings at King Street Car Park and the Bus Station in 2013 through an asset transfer from Cheshire East Council. On transfer the council appointed national toilet provider Danfo to create three new cubicles within each larger building which saw the town’s toilets transform from facilities which were frequently the subject of complaints due to the poor condition and maintenance to toilets that have been accredited as Platinum standard in the national Loo of the Year awards.  

The creation of the new toilets in 2013 left large areas of redundant space in the buildings which were previously large male and female spaces. Utilising capital funds raised from the sale of the Cemetery Lodge in 2016, the Town Council has converted these spaces into modern glass fronted units designed to accommodate a range of businesses. The conversion works were undertaken between February and May and involved creating new openings to the buildings, installation of individually metered services and heating, insulation and lighting. The units were designed to enable new tenants to quickly move in and decorate the units for their use.

The premises at the King Street car park has been named Lily Lodge with the property at the bus station named Justice View. The properties were advertised for let through local agents Williams Sillitoe and the council is currently agreeing the leases with two new local businesses.

“Our aim with this project was to put empty space into economic use” said Town Clerk, Adam Keppel-Green. “The new units will generate a rental income for the Town Council and will provide a home for two great Knutsford-grown businesses brining more business and more employment into our town centre”.

Cllr Peter Coan opens a door.

Top – Cllr Peter Coan, Chairman of the Assets and Operations Committee, at Justice View.
Bottom – Cllr Peter Coan at Lily Lodge