Stockwell Toilet Watch: February 2010

Monday 22 February 2010

HYDE SOUTHBANK HOMES "WINTER BULLETIN" FLY-POSTED. "SMILE PLEASE".

"SMILE PLEASE" HYDE SOUTHBANK "WINTER BULLETIN" FLY-POSTED.

Wednesday 17 February 2010

HYDE SOUTHBANK HOMES. "OPERATION TOMMYROT" - PART 2.

HYDE STUDLEY ESTATE "TREE'S FOR SHITTIES" - where "caught short" folk stop off to relieve themselves at the WAR MEMORIAL GARDENS - users according to HYDE on 2/11 would never use a COMMUNITY TOILET SCHEME facility - so chalk up another HYDE "CTS non-participation" bonus point there then. In fact all anti social "caught shortists" who use a public place were deemed by HYDE to be uncaring permanent abusers - CTS availability not withstanding. This from HYDE's lead officer on anti social behaviour - as someone who has had occasion to urinate in public this HYDE-speak is codswallop.

MacDONALD's??? Yes they got a mention on 2/11 - HYDE's official stated that when he's "caught short" he heads for MacDONALD's. So they crept in on the act.

HYDE's "FULL RESPONSE" email reply to COMMMUNITY TOILET SCHEME enquiry.

CLICK in image to ENLARGE text - and see discussion paragraphs below.

CLICK on the above images to ENLARGE and read their CONTENT.
Immediately above are two items of recent correspondence from this blogger to HYDE which eventually led to the 11th February meeting. Staff employed by the Hyde "YOU talk WE listen" hype-machine are expressly forbidden to open any info which requires them to open "web" links - so if it's blogged information it can ONLY be communicated if already copied and pasted to them by hard mail or by email already fully formatted - thus it was that enclosed with the 2nd of the above two communications sections of the recent TOILET WATCH blogspot texts - HERE - were also enclosed to draw them to Hyde's attention for consideration and hopefully further clarification.

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These enclosures had included details of the activities of Alex Bigham, the STOCKWELL LABOUR PARTY Secretary (and also a local LABOUR PARTY BLOGGER) who in early 2009 had unsuccessfully tried to enrol local Central Stockwell outlets into the COMMUNITY TOILET SCHEME. Bigham is now a HYDE BOARD member and a curious feature of the Bigham 2009 initiative had been that HYDE was a glaring omission from the local outlets that he'd approached. He had been sent subsequent reminders about approaching Hyde - so too had other local LABOUR PARTY worthies (including another Hyde Board member Councillor BOWYER) but a total non-responsive silence had continued to reign - so one hope was that the above correspondence with HYDE would produce enlightenment.

So why wasn't HYDE being approached re CTS participation? The above reproduced correspondence was acknowledged with an email (27 January) indicating that a "FULL REPORT" would be made in 10 days. The "FULL REPORT" report (contained in an email dated 3rd Feb) - as also reproduced above - was hardly FULL and it introduced even more intrigue. Not least because it contained a totally puzzling and incorrect statement that this blogger had previously given HYDE to understand that misuse of the Studley Estate Memorial Garden area (top foto above) anti socially as a public toilet was a predominantly "NIGHT TIME ECONOMY" phenomina. This was absolutely incorrect - because prior to the 2/11 meeting there had never been a single face to face conversation about lack of local public toilets in any context with the said official. Indeed this claim in the FULL REPORT (so-called) was so erroneous that it was suspected that HYDE had a further unstated dovetail motive for the suggestion - which it does seem to have had because HYDE was to repeat the claim that its opening hours made Hyde unfit to enrol as a COMMUNITY TOILET SCHEME participant (see below). In fact during the 2/11 meeting totally out of the blue HYDE's official suddenly observed that electronic pop up urinals were a good development. It was acknowledged in reply that they were okay but had short comings - (1) they only popped up for about a few hours late at night, (2) only at weekends and (3) were a zero option for women. Again Hyde steering the agenda to the night time economy into a time zone when its office was closed.

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HYDE'S "BOARD" and OFFICE OPENING HOURS

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An objection raised by HYDE on 2/11 to its CTS participation concerned HYDE's opening hours - its official simply stated that they were too brief to make particiption worthwhile - presumably that is if they were sympathetic to participation which of course they were not. Mind you throughout the meeting from time to time HYDE stated that it had not reached any decison on participation!!! This rather seemed like operation double bluff - the so-called FULL REPORT official had to be pressed to explain what efforts he had actually made to enquire into HYDE's disposition re participation. He then duly felt pressured enough to concede okay he had had discussions with HYDE's Managing Director. And HYDE BOARD members had they been contacted consulted or had any imput? "This is not a matter for consideration at BOARD level".

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It remains curious that 2 years after the COMMUNITY TOILET SCHEME was initiated and despite one STOCKWELL WARD COUNCILLOR being a HYDE BOARD MEMBER throughout - and all the many communications and missives sent via this blogger in their directions HYDE SOUTHBANK HOMES had allegedly given no consideration to the problems arising from lack of local public toilet provision. It is hardly believeable though it is possible that in reality HYDE was so anti participation that it wanted to keep its head well down.

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HYDE's spokesperson at 2/11 meeting has primary HYDE responsibility for anti social behaviour and lack of public toilet provision is clearly a seriously exacerbating local factor and HYDE ought to have been - and ought now to be - in the running publicly so that improvments are made. So far as is known HYDE has been totally rigor mortis in these regards. And so far as the misuse of the Studley Estate Trees for Shities area (top foto above) is concerned Hyde maintained that CTS non participation wasn't relevant because those who publicly relieve themselves would simply never use CTS facilities even if they existed - period. No wonder HYDE is so inclined to do zero about non provision. Mind you it could additionally be that they don't want to publicly put pressure on a Borough Council that doesn't want to make provision. HYDE did state under pressure on 2/11 that public toilet provision was a Local Authority responsibility as distinct from theirs - that was being said somewhat cowardly in just a small room with only two persons present - its never been and is not being addressed by them more publicly. You notice that in the "FULL REPORT" HYDE emailed text above that it does not include the observation that Public Toilet provision is a Local Authority not a HYDE responsibility.

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HYDE maintains that it would not particpate in the CTS scheme because its opening hours (detailed in its 3rd Feb FULL REPORT email - as above) are too short. Its official clearly expressed bemusement at the prospect of participation because he simply could not imagine who would want to use HYDE's toilet facility even if participation were agreed - he simply could not forsee that anyone would use it. He stated with studied careful pronounciation that HYDE "res-id-ents" could use their foyer area facility but he was immediately absolutely dead set against HYDE publicising that availability when it was suggested that that would inform those HYDE "residents" who might find the information helpful.

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The further intriguing and clearly contrasting feature related to the early 2009 CTS invites sent around Central Stockwell by ALEX BIGHAM - who is now a HYDE BOARD member - is that among those he then invited without success were the local POST OFFICE, the very small chemist actually inside Stockwell Underground Station, the NAT WEST BANK just across the road and the vetinary practice opposite the Clock Tower - some interesting "opening hours" opportunities were implicit with these invites - never mind more honest and not just make believe convenient negative factors - the full BIGHAM invite list is HERE.

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Perhaps HYDE and BOARD member BIGHAM should confer although perhaps that is expecting too much.

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Saturday 13 February 2010

HYDE SOUTHBANK HOMES. "OPERATION TOMMYROT" - PART 1.

HYDE 2/11 - "pretty pretty colours are Hyde" -

Community Toilet Scheme demolished.

HYDE "WINTER BULLETIN 2009" - page 16 -

see discussion below re HYDE "Reception" puzzlement -

spelling error circled in red.

'AN URGENT NEED" Report news item - "HOME GROUND"

(winter 2006 edition) - see discussion below .

SCOTLAND YARD H Q current street-side ANTI SOCIAL DISPERSAL ZONES

propaganda imagery - see discussion below.

STOCKWELL LABOUR PARTY current ANTI SOCIAL DISPERSAL ZONE

propaganda imagery - see relevant discussion details below -

(note - two LABOUR proposers are HYDE BOARD MEMBERS).
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For the uninitiated "TOMMYROT" is vernacular for rubbish, garbage, cobblers, trash, nonesense, eyewash - a linguistic useage meaning that something is crap or not up to standard big time. This will be PART ONE of a two part HYDE SOUTHBANK HOMES "OPERATION TOMMYROT" sequence. The intention should be reasonably clear - HYDE SOUTHBANK HOMES leaves much to be desired.

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This blogger has lived in a central STOCKWELL flat for over 55 years which includes the period since HYDE took on board ownership. Hyde are not a Peter Rachman outfit but they are not up to scratch in many ways and indeed the current SOUTH LONDON PRESS (12 Feb) coincidently carries an authoritative report criticising Hyde's performance. From time to time I happen to talk to local folk in passing about one matter or another that HYDE has a connection with and many times folk are scathing about their performance. For myself I have had positive experiences and have also had some absolutely dire indeed legally questionable ones - and this blog has configured various examples before -

HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE.
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HYDE's "WHAT TO CALL IT" MIRAGE
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Hyde's local publication HOME GROUND (discontinued after its summer 2009 edition) has been superceded by a one off WINTER BULLETIN (2009) effort. The long term editior of Home Ground was sacked in September by email - here - after 22 quarterly editions, and HYDE's current WINTER BULLETIN - hardly inspires. HYDE has a new regular journal in mind but reckons it can't decide on a name for it - so it invites WINTER BULLETIN readers to stick up a suggestion - its the "big decision" (Hyde's actual rhetoric) and they want to hear from readers what it should be called .... then in the very next breath well well they don't want too imaginative a response because HYDE sticks up 3 tags and clarifies that these are the ONLY options available to readers. Its a cobblers fakery really - they simply want to manufacture a semblance of big hearted right on all round woweee participation.
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"WINTER BULLETIN" FAZE OUT

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Popped into HYDE's "Reception" early in the week having seen a curious puzzling half page in the WINTER BULLETIN promoting (at page 16 - see repro image above) an "ANNNUAL UPDATE 2009 - CELEBRATING DIVERSITY, PROMOTING inclusion" report. Showed HYDE "Reception" the feature and asked for a copy - the official didn't have a clue - he went and got me a report that was exactly the very same WINTER BULLETIN and opened it up to the same page (16) as I was showing him and then said that was it and then scratched his head and said it was very weird and then that he could only think that that was the report itself - it wasn't actually. The WINTER BULLETIN item was so badly presented that he was not able to suss which report was actually being referred to and on that Hyde visit that was that. He thanked me for the visit as it had revealed to him that the WINTER BULLETIN had been badly produced with a report inside the BULLETIN being angled as though it was separately available, when he reckoned it was just the spread right there on page 16. In reality there was a separate report but Hyde's "Receptionist" had not realised that and was completely mistaken. The "Receptionist" had been genuinely trying to assist but was genuinely fazed by the WINETR BULLETIN presentation.

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"AN URGENT NEED" - PUBLIC TOILETS REPORT
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Two days after the above codswallop result this blogger had an arranged abysmal meeting (11 Feb - HYDE 2/11) with a senior Hyde official whose specialisation is the eradication of anti social behaviour which ought of course to take on board the reorganisation and eradication of environmental or social factors that give rise to unacceptable behaviours. The misuse of areas of Hyde's property as a public toilet because no public toilets are available are a case in point. This week at this meeting this blogger mentioned the closure of STOCKWELL's public toilets in 1988 (obviously long before their ASBO officer came on the Hyde scene) and he immediately interjected to make the point that public toilets are a magnet for anti social behaviour. He was therefore asked if he knew of, or better still had read the LONDON ASSEMBLY (2006) report "AN URGENT NEED" - nope, no siree he neither knew of or had read it. This report was very important - the title stresses its importance - and it details the low down on public toilet closures London wide over a 20 year period and indicates that in truth anti social behaviour was nothing like as big a factor as many folk mistakenly thought. In fact this LONDON ASSEMBLY report had actually been flagged up (as reproduced above) in the HYDE (winter 2006) edition of HOME GROUND. Not remotely an inspiring meeting with Hyde last week.
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ANTI SOCIAL DISPERSAL ZONES - HYDE WON'T DISCUS
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Hyde are supporting the establishment of a STOCKWELL area anti social behaviour dispersal zone - so cops can then move whomsoever on and off the streets on no more than mere suspicion that something could occur. This blog has already recently - here - questioned aspects of this dispersal zone initiative and at the meeting Hyde's ANTI SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR official was requested in passing to look at the imagery currently being peddled by STOCKWELL LABOUR WARD COUNCILLORS to solicit support for their dispersal initiative - the HYDE offical totally refused even to look at the image in question with the excuse that Hyde would not comment on anything like that - he was also asked to scrutinise current SCOTLAND YARD H Q imagery being publicly used (as reproduced above) for the same law'n'order purposes and he again remained adamant that Hyde would neither countenance nor comment in any way on such propagandistic imagery.

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"WINTER BULLETIN" HYDE-speak rhetoric right now is

"YOU TALK - WE LISTEN"

and above we have a brilliant TOMMYROT demonstration.

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"OPERATION HYDE TOMMYROT - PART 2"

- click here for PART 2 - Hyde's double-bluff

re CTS participation

well and truly nailed

- forget cosey posey pretty pretty colours Hyde.

Monday 8 February 2010

WILL SELF's FLY BUTTONS. STOCKWELL MIS-ALIGNMENT INVESTIGATION.

STOCKWELL urine-ologist WILL SELF apparently lives opposite an alleyway where menfolk sidle along to unbutton and let it all hang out - and not always solo. On occasion he apparently remonstrates with 'em - "Oi you I'm comin' where yous live to have a pee so how d'yah like that then eh?" or some such. Don't take my word for it you can click HERE to find his full-flow late January New Statesman outburst so stand well back. Somebody (himself he surprisingly concludes) has finally got to ask why "so many men piss in the street". Finally??? - this TOILET WATCH blogger has been bleating on about it re STOCKWELL where WILLY lives for over 4 years so he's not exactly an early starter.

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Obviously WILLY S doesn't much rate what the above mentioned gentry get up to, and in reflective retrospect, he reveals that similarly he didn't much rate on-street yesteryear Parisian urinals - they stank etc., etc., etc., For myself given the acute predicament we have in Central Stockwell with no public on-street public toilet facilities at all for over 20 years I wouldn't mind a few old Parisian urinals about the manor even tho' they would in no way be adequate given that females especially the elderly also suffer acutely due to the lack of toilet facilities. Mind you WILLY does not make the worthwhile point that in Paris nowadays there are very very many 24/7 on-street free access automated toilets - or there were about 2 years ago and I presume that they are still in-situ. So whether old Parisian on-street urinals stank or not Paris is far more civilised in this matter than Blighty. WILLY doesn't acknowledge the acute problem re Central Stockwell and curiously our local STOCKWELL NEWS blogger altho' having been gently tipped off (nod nod wink wink) has in turn also failed to pick up on local WILLY's "caught short" efforts.

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WILLY seems to have somewhat piddled in his "oh where have all the loo's gone pantaloons". He is of the mistaken impression that local loos have been getting shut down and got rid of etc., etc., because endless bars clubs pubs cafe's and such like have sprung up and that these jolly establishments have usurped the need for local authorities to continue to run and/or provide local toilet facilities. There may be the exceptional locality where that has been the reason for local authorities to cry off continued - or new - toilet provision. The alternative most usual reason why over many years - and especially so here in STOCKWELL (1988) - toilets have been closed is to make budget savings.

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Some half a dozen Lambeth public toilet facilities were fingered for closure in 1988 and in not one of these instances was there any suggestion from any quarter that there was a surfeit of cafe's, bars, pubs or other local outlets that would adequately provide that which was going to be lost when the toilets in question got the chop. At that time the SOUTH LONDON PRESS conveniently ran an anti STOCKWELL loos item angling homosexual useage which was an inflammatory minimal issue (if true at all) and therefore codswallop so far as justifying closure was concerned - after all crimes get committed all the time but we don't get shot of the police. And furthermore CENTRAL STOCKWELL's public toilets did NOT get closed because a profusion of 1988 newly established bars, clubs, pubs or cafe's had sufficiently provided alternative toilet provision - absolutely and totally not so.

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And what has much more recently happened in Central Stockwell? Detailed HERE is the story of the totally hopeless early 2009 attempt to recruit Central Stockwell outlets into the LAMBETH COUNCIL "COMMUNITY TOILETS SCHEME" (CTS). It is a curious coincidence that at the very time when this blog was detailing what a total failure for Central Stockwell the CTS has proven to be that WILLY was writing that public toilet facilities have closed because there would otherwise be a surfeit of provision - hence Council's have chosen to cry off and to abandon existing provision. No way - Council's are crying of provision if they want to budget cut - or simply if they don't want to make provision and if they can get away with it. And they ARE getting away with it wholesale. Though they came embarrassingly unstuck in EXETER just a week or so ago.

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WILLY should scrutinise HERE the 2006 London Assembly report "AN URGENT NEED" for he would discover that toilet closures have gone on wholesale across virtually the whole of London for 20 years or more, and that closures were mostly driven by budget cutting considerations not surfeits of readily to hand eating and drinking establishments that have made Council run public toilets redundant. Local public toilets have been a soft touch budget cuttting item and, as calculated by local politicians, folk have just been left to suffer in silence.

Saturday 6 February 2010

CENTRAL STOCKWELL "COMMUNITY TOILET SCHEME" SENSATIONAL NEW DEVELOPMENT.

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE FACILITY

AND LET IT ALL HANG OUT.

APOLOGIES TO LADY "CAUGHT SHORTISTS" EVERYWHERE.

BANG OUTSIDE CENTRAL STOCKWELL "BETTER BOOKIES"

A NEW COMMUNITY TOILET SCHEME PARTICIPANT.

YOU'RE NEVER ALONE WITH A

LAMBETH COUNCIL "CTS" PARTICIPANT LOGO.

LOCAL "CAUGHT SHORTISTS" HAVE TO BRING THEIR OWN GLASS.
DON'T MOAN JUST BE GRATEFULL THAT
THERE IS NOW AT LEAST ONE CTS FACILITY.

LOCAL ILL-INFORMED URINE-OLOGIST WILL SELF

< YOUR PROBLEMS > ARE OVER.
THREE CHEERS FOR BT.
AND THREE MORE ROUSING CHEERS FOR STOCKWELL's TIRELESS
3 LABOUR PARTY STOCKWELL WARD COUNCILLORS.
PEE ACKHTAR. PEE BOWYER. STAND-UP IMOGEN WALKER.

Friday 5 February 2010

"JUDGE CHERIE BLAIR" - an ode.

To be fair

to Judge Cherie Blair

she let a cove go free

'cos she really does care

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the cove was a believer

so (wink wink) how she felt his pain

when her hubby's at The Hague

she'll be praying BIG TIME

for the same

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Tony's a believer

Tony's a deceiver

dodgy 45 mininute dossiers

W......M.......D

-------

but he's deeply deeply religious

oh come on don't you see?

from The Hague

he'll proudly walk tall

FREE! FREE! FREE!

-----

harm a Muslim?

Godly Tony B?

oh never never never

oh no, oh no, oh no

it could never ever be!

Tuesday 2 February 2010

LIB DEM CAVE-IN TO PUBLIC TOILETS CAMPAIGNERS.

THE LOCAL LOO'S THAT WERE THREATENED WITH CLOSURE.

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If you Google search "news" items re "PUBLIC TOILETS" day in and day out there are endless reports country-wide about public toilet closures very often getting the nod from local authorities even in the face of local distress and protest. It's very often the usual local authority motivation - as it covertly was in Central Stockwell back in Sept 1988 - a below the belt budget cutting abusive operation with Joe Public on the receiving end left to suffer in silence. And Joanne Public too of course and very much so.

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Public toilets are a taboo somewhat unsavoury non-celebrity non-A-list topic to pipe-up about as Joan Bakewell had mentioned in passing some time back and as a result it's unlikely that many local voters express their concerns about local toilet provision or non-provision when local politico's turn up on the knocker while canvassing for local elections. If many locals do pipe-up - here in Stockwell for example - it certainly doesn't surface as such in the local party political ephemera that drops through our local letter boxes - indeed the topic rarely if ever even surfaces in LAMBETH COUNCIL's fortnightly freebee bullshit propaganda rag LAMBETH Liar. These were "political ephemera" concerns that were enormously fingered on this blog 2 years or so ago - and the problem hasn't gone away - the topic is still almost totally ignored by the party politico's and deliberately so. Blimey even ill-informed local WILL SELF has very recently started lecturing -here - about lack of public toilet provision. SELF OFF THE SHELF - let the cry go out!!

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Take Lib Dem ANTHONY BOTTRALL who until a few years ago had been a Stockwell Ward Councillor for 12 years - altho' he never once during those years published anything about local toilet provision and altho' he's murmered positively of late he definitely isn't voluntarily doing it publicly and there is no sign whatever that he will put money where his guardedly circumspect mouth is. Absolutely no sign whatever.

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Indeed at the local Burns Night event held at the South Lambeth Library last Friday (Jan. 29) he astonishingly indicated in conversation that he had never seen and appeared not even to be aware of the 2006 major London Mayoral report "AN URGENT NEED" - HERE - and when Kilroy suggested to him that he should make himself aware of it he immediately turned away somewhat and dismissively scoffed "I don't need to see that!"

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AN URGENT NEED was a very important report because in addition to making serious toilet provision recommendations for urgent local authority adoption it uncovered the London-wide systematic public toilets closures that'd gone down over a 20 year period. Everybody in their closure localities had been dunked-on so to speak and left to suffer in silence - back to well intentioned "urrgghhh ... mums the word" Joan Bakewell. A local politician who isn't sussed on the findings of AN URGENT NEED is seriously deficient in his or her frontal lobes.

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Well no sign at present that Bottrall will put pro-local public toilet money where his mouth is even if several months ago in the immediate vicinity of the Stockwell Community and Resource Centre he did go out of his way to let on that he thought that these toilet-watch blogged efforts had done very well to identify a problem that did need dealing with by providing proper local public toilet provision. And in a more grudging mood he has again conceded similar sentiments even more recently - you can track his somewhat grudging remarks among the "COMMMENTS" here. Problem is there is no sign whatever that local Lib Dems will actually make that provision should they get back in power.

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So what's all this about "LIB-DEMS CAVE IN TO PUBLIC TOILETS CAMPAIGNERS". Well its Exeter where there has been a very very strong local save our local public toilets campaign - here - to face off the threat of their closure by their local LIB DEM politicians. It has just been announced - see here - and here - that the LIB DEM closure plans have been dropped and local campaigners are cock-a-hoop at their victory. And so they damned well should be. All power to them in their victory.

Stockwell Toilet Watch

Monday 22 February 2010

HYDE SOUTHBANK HOMES "WINTER BULLETIN" FLY-POSTED. "SMILE PLEASE".

Wednesday 17 February 2010

HYDE SOUTHBANK HOMES. "OPERATION TOMMYROT" - PART 2.

Saturday 13 February 2010

HYDE SOUTHBANK HOMES. "OPERATION TOMMYROT" - PART 1.

Monday 8 February 2010

WILL SELF's FLY BUTTONS. STOCKWELL MIS-ALIGNMENT INVESTIGATION.

Saturday 6 February 2010

CENTRAL STOCKWELL "COMMUNITY TOILET SCHEME" SENSATIONAL NEW DEVELOPMENT.

Friday 5 February 2010

"JUDGE CHERIE BLAIR" - an ode.

Tuesday 2 February 2010

LIB DEM CAVE-IN TO PUBLIC TOILETS CAMPAIGNERS.

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