The council of Assen has to look for a temporary public toilet as an emergency solution. The current steel toilet bunker on the Noordersingel has been broken for months and can no longer be repaired. Because there will not be a new one for another year, the Asser politicians want a replacement toilet facility for people in dire need.
GroenLinks and PvdA took the initiative this evening in the city council to arrange an emergency solution. They got almost all parties on board, except the ChristenUnie.
According to Ria de Haan of GroenLinks, a good public toilet is necessary in a hospitable city like Assen. “We want to be accessible to everyone, we value inclusion as a municipality, then we are obliged to do so at our stand.”
GroenLinks and the PvdA previously asked questions about the public toilet facility in the center, between the court and the town hall. It’s been out of service for months now. The parties wanted to know what was actually wrong, since the toilet has been out of use for some time. And how long people in dire need had to miss a publicly accessible toilet in the city.
That could take another year, was the answer of the mayor and aldermen. Because a completely new toilet cubicle must be installed. And that will also be accessible for people with disabilities and wheelchair users. The problem is that the replacement toilet block is not available 1-2-3, and it does not fit in exactly the same place. So that, according to alderman Bert Jan ten Oever (City Party PLOP), is ‘just a bit of puzzling’.
The college itself did not immediately see a problem in it. Because there are alternatives in times of need. There are enough entrepreneurs in the Asser city center that have made their toilets accessible to the public. For example, thirty shops and catering companies are participating in the HogeNood app, a special app for people who want to know where they can quickly go for ‘their other message’.
But GroenLinks and PvdA only consider the HogeNood app to be a weakness when it comes to easily accessible toilet facilities in the city. “Those places are not open 24 hours a day, nor are they all equally accessible for people in wheelchairs.” Moreover, the HogeNood app is not yet widely known everywhere, the parties note.
That is why it was agreed tonight in the city council that Assen should do more to make the HogeNood app better known to visitors to the city. Meanwhile, alderman Ten Oever has to arrange a temporary toilet in a public place in the city ‘at the touch of a button’. This toilet must also be cleaned regularly. And all this until the new toilet facility is installed.
The ChristenUnie was the only one to vote against. He didn’t understand the urge. A new public toilet building is on the way, so why spend money on a replacement public toilet again. And according to party chairman Bouke Weening, Assen scores very well when it comes to toilets accessible to the public.
For example, last November Assen was named the most toilet-friendly municipality in Drenthe on World Toilet Day. “And we are in 10th place nationally. That is a very good score. Moreover, I have not heard anything about the costs, nor how many people actually use that public toilet building,” Weening tried.
But the CU foreman was alone in this, and his critical comments were flushed with the push of a button. The temporary emergency provision for ’emergency’ is passed with 27 votes in favor and five against.