Cllr Geoffrey Theobald

The 2009 Loo of the Year Award results have just been released and Brighton & Hove has won a bumper 32 awards, four more than last year, and a record number of coveted five star awards.

Brighton & Hove City Council has retained its second place in the UK Premier League of Local Authority toilets, narrowly beaten by the Scottish Highlands.
 
It is the best ever result for the city council which has picked up 19 five star awards, 12 four star awards and one three star award.
 
Councillor Geoffrey Theobald, Brighton & Hove City Council's cabinet member for environment, said:
“This is fantastic news, not just for the council, but for all our residents, people who work here and those who visit our city.
 
“To be recognised as the best in England and be placed second in the UK league table, is a remarkable achievement, especially as councils with much bigger budgets and fewer facilities were placed well below Brighton & Hove.

“Credit must go to the dedicated team of staff from Wetton Cleaning Services who work so hard to achieve these constant high standards which continue to rise year after year.

"Many improvements have been made to toilets in Brighton & Hove over the last year, in partnership with Wetton Cleaning Services, which include installing low level hand washing facilities, toddler toilet seats, providing larger cubicles for buggies, redecorating ten sites, and opening a new Changing Places toilet at The Colonnade public toilets in  Madeira Drive. The Changing Places toilet is designed for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities and their carers and is the first of its kind in Sussex."

The city's five star loos include those at Ovingdean, which have been recently redecorated and jumped from three stars to five, and new toilets in Wild Park which opened earlier this year. Other toilets awarded five stars for the first time include Hove Lagoon, St Anne's  Well Gardens, Norton Road, Hove Park, The Lanes, Old Steine, Providence Place and Stanmer Village .

For more information about Brighton and Hove Council view:
www.brighton-hove.gov.uk