Clapton loos to become community venue
Brooksby’s Walk toilets were ‘refurbished’ earlier this year. Photograph: Clapton Improvement Society
The disused toilets on Brooksby’s Walk in Clapton are to be brought back into official use by the Clapton Improvement Society. The ladies is to return to service as a unisex public lavatory, whilst the gents will be used for community events such as art shows and pop-up cafés.
The recent relaunch of Chatsworth Road Market has led to increased demand for public toilets in the area, and the disused facilities at the bottom of the road, closed 18 years ago, were seen by many as the logical site.
Last spring the toilets were informally occupied by local residents and used for a series of activities, including a café and a cocktail bar, as part of their campaign to bring the building back into use.
These activities came to an abrupt halt when subcontractors employed by the council entered the block and broke tiles, windows and doors, before boarding up the toilets.
The council had taken steps to sell the site for redevelopment. But the Clapton Improvement Society mounted a campaign to keep the current building in public use, submitting objections to the development plans and collecting over 750 signatures on a petition opposing them.
The campaigners were successful and the Society is now in the process of securing a formal lease and licence for the site. The building will then be restored and the utilities reconnected.
The council is to fund repairs to the doors and windows they had broken previously in the course of re-securing the site, as well as the connection of water and electricity.
The toilets, which will be minded by an attendant, will be open during the hours of Chatsworth Road Market on Sundays and at other times when events are scheduled.
The events will include a range of cultural and community activities, and will be designed both to entertain and to fund the facility.
For information or to volunteer to help with the project contact the Clapton Improvement Society.