Piss poor plans by Westminster Council to get rid of public toilets in Soho and turn them into a cafe have sunk after a lease agreement with a coffee company ground to a halt.
The underground loos in Broadwick Street, Soho — which were open from 10am to 2am every day of the week — were closed in 2021 due to police reports of sexual activity taking place in the men’s toilets, giving the then Conservative council a convenient excuse to close both the men’s and women’s toilets.
A 25-year lease was reportedly agreed with Lift Coffee the year after, and a planning application was submitted in late 2024 to transform it into a café and events space after Labour took control of the council.
That application is still listed as “pending” on Westminster Council’s planning portal, though a webpage by property advisers FMX suggests the site is back on the market.
A council spokesperson confirmed the existing agreement on the lease has stalled and that Westminster is working on its own application for a change of use at the site.
They had however as yet not provided an on-the-record comment on the marketing of the former toilet. Lift Coffee was also approached on several occasions though has not responded to the Local Democracy Service (LDRS).
Conservative West End councillor and deputy leader of the Opposition Tim Barnes said the site could be a bar, coffee shop or community asset, and called on the Labour administration to “get serious about making good things happen instead of letting it all drift”.
The facility on Broadwick Street, opposite The Ivy restaurant, was known as a popular site for men to meet for casual sex during lockdown.
A Met Police email seen by the LDRS before it shut said: “Broadwick Street toilets was listed as the top cottaging spot in the UK. This is all taking place directly in front of urinals with no attempt to hide the behaviour from anyone that would want to use the toilets. When the toilets are open we receive calls about this on a regular basis.”
While there are a number of other facilities nearby, since the closure of the Broadwick Street site, concerns have been raised about the lack of public toilet provision in Soho.
An automatic public convenience (APC) is provided at ground level on Broadwick Street though there is discontent over the issue of public urination locally, particularly by late-night revellers.
The LDRS previously spoke to one person who said they wanted to see store fronts become “community shops” offering amenities including public toilets.
“We need toilets, we don’t need more cafés,” they said. “There are cafés up and down the street.”
Tim Lord, chair of the Soho Society, has said it would be “ridiculous” to close public toilets in the area.
“We have more drinking than we ever had. On Hopkins Street, you get people weeing on people’s houses and into people’s letterboxes.”
Speaking to the LDRS about the delays to reusing the Broadwick Street site, he said: “Soho needs all its public toilets open given the concentration of licensed premises which has significantly increased over the years and the number of visitors. Public urination is a problem that continues and is worse in the summer.”
Westminster Council has provided temporary facilities including grey plastic urinals which have a sump to contain gallons of stinking urine and which allow men to pee in public view but offers no facility for women to use.
Lord added there is evidence groups avoid Soho because of the lack of decent public toilets, and that the temporary facilities are “ugly and are not a long term solution to the issue and get very unpleasant by the end of the weekend and are expensive”.
While Life Coffee’s planning application for the former toilet is still listed as “pending” on the council website, FMX has confirmed it is marketing the site, with an accompanying brochure stating it is being done “on behalf of Westminster Council”.
The document adds the site “is currently fitted out as a public convenience but would create an attractive space which would lend itself extremely well to conversion to a bar, fitness offer, gallery, showroom or other uses”.
The council has also confirmed the existing lease has stalled, with new plans being drawn up by the local authority.
Cllr Barnes told the LDRS: “Three years after Labour promised voters the Broadwick Street toilets would be restored they have still not managed to reopen them for the purpose they were built for or found an alternative use. They have been left abandoned and now there’s to be another round of bids for them to mismanage.
“It could be a great bar, coffee shop or community asset, such as a permanent home for the Museum of Soho, if the council would just own up to misleading local residents and get serious about making good things happen instead of letting it all drift.”
On wider concerns about public toilets in Soho, a Westminster Council spokesperson previously said: “The council is proud of its considerable investment in public toilets for the benefit of residents and visitors — one of the largest active investments in public toilets of any local authority.
“We are investing £12.7mn on an extensive refurbishment of our eight West End public toilets, as well as spending more than £2mn on upgraded APCs and refreshing our neighbourhood toilets. The council provides a network of temporary toilets in the West End at weekends and during major events to address the increase in demand during busier times.
“Making sure Westminster’s streets are clean and safe is the council’s top priority. In addition to our toilet provision, our City Inspectors and street cleaning teams run a 24/7 service to deal with problems like street urination as quickly as possible.”
In 2012, public toilets outside Great Portland Street station in Fitzrovia were closed and Westminster Council confirmed last year that they would not be re-opening them despite Labour stating in its 2022 election campaign that they would “fully modernise our existing public toilets and explore options to expand availability”.
Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg, cabinet member for city management and air quality, told The Fitzrovia News in November 2024:
“All our existing public toilets are being refurbished and modernised as we speak. We are looking at options to expand toilet availability.
“We made no commitment to reopen the many toilets closed by the previous Conservative council,” he said.
Additional reporting by Linus Rees.
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