At its meeting next week, Ipswich Borough Council’s Executive will consider plans to install composting toilets in four of Ipswich’s parks.
All four parks currently have traditional toilet blocks that do not have disabled access and require complete refurbishment.
The proposal is that these toilets are replaced with disabled access composting toilets that are fully equipped with baby changing facilities.
The new toilets, which will not require connecting to mains water, sewer or electricity, will use solar power to provide lighting and hand sanitiser as an alternative to handwashing, helping to reduce the council’s energy and water usage.
It is predicted that replacing the current facilities with these composting toilets will reduce carbon emissions by 1.48 tonnes per year, the equivalent carbon capture of 75 mature trees.
If agreed, the authority will consult with ward councillors and the park’s Friends Groups to choose suitable areas within each park for the toilets to be installed.
Commenting, Ipswich Borough Council’s Portfolio Holder for Parks, Councillor Phil Smart said:
“Access to quality public toilets is something that we know is important to park visitors and by replacing existing facilities with new environmentally friendly composting toilets, we will be improving their experience while ensuring that energy and water usage is reduced in line with our wider climate change strategy.
“Similar toilets are already in use at some of the council’s allotment sites and we think they would be a great addition to our parks.”
PSE will be hosting a Public Sector Decarbonisation event on 9 September. Join us for the full day event by registering here.
