HIGHGATE residents are up in arms over the Town Hall’s plans to close public toilets that were used an estimated 88,000 times in a year.  

In a bid to save £260,000, the council is looking at introducing a pay-per-use system at the toilets in Lincoln’s Inn Fields and Camden Town, and closing three public conveniences including the facilities in Pond Square, Highgate.

The plans have sparked a backlash from residents who say nearly 250 trips a day to the Highgate loos alone should not be ignored by council chiefs.

Andrew Sulston, a member of the Highgate Society, is heading up a campaign against the closure of the “godsend” toilet. 

“We are really cross about this,” he said. 

“It will unfairly hit old people and adults with young children. We believe it is the wrong thing. The 88,000 uses is Camden’s own figure. It shows they are used and needed and I think it suggests that by closing them you will have a lot of other costs.”

Residents have been handing out flyers and putting up posters in local shops and businesses ahead of a public meeting at the Highgate Society this evening (Thursday) urging people to object to the proposals. Around 60 people are expected to attend.

The council placed a sensor on the Pond Square toilets in April 2014 to record the number of times they were used over the month and extrapolated the figures over a year. 

The figures show:

l the Pond Square toilet was used 88,487 times;

l Camden Town men’s toilet was used 328,029 times;

l toilets at Lincoln’s Inn Fields had 249,795 visits;

l and 105,339 trips were made to the public conveniences in South End Green.

The figures for the number of visits to toilets across the borough comes in at over 900,000 visits. 

Mr Sulston said the sheer demand for the service shows it is unlikely that businesses in Highgate Village will agree to the proposed community toilets scheme, and pointed out that so far only one establishment, Pedro’s Cafe in Kentish Town, has signed up. 

The Town Hall says the Pond Square toilet costs the council £43,961 a year to run but Mr Sulston said he believed the costs are inflated and that some of the costs would remain even if the facility was to close down.

Highgate councillor Sian Berry said: “The reason it has not been closed before is that it is such a vital toilet, it’s one I use regularly when I’m in the village. It shouldn’t go. That 88,000 people who used the toilet shows it is a useful public service and we must find a way to save it.” 

Asked whether he thought £260,000 saving would be worth the overhaul, Camden’s environment chief, Councillor Meric Apak, said “it all adds up”.

On the usage figures, Cllr Apak said: "Councillor Meric Apak, Cabinet Member for Sustainability and Environment said: "The figures are based on survey undertaken during a month-long period in 2014. This recorded access to the toilets and visits were calculated from the number of people who broke a beam as they crossed the entrance to the toilets. The figures have then been extrapolated out to give monthly and annual visitor estimates."

The public meeting is at Highgate Society in South Grove starting tonight (Thursday) at 6pm.