r/glasgow • u/Eastern_Pumpkin7866 • 1d ago
Toilets in Glasgow Green
Had to stop for the toilet. My shock when you had to pay 20p for the toilet. So being the nonconformist I am, I paid for all 4 toilets and left sticks in the doorway to keep the door open. Everyone can use the toilet for free. Viva la revolution everyone
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u/ParentheticalsAside 1d ago
We really shouldn't have accepted the widespread closure of free public lavatories. They're a basic human need that should be pretty high up the list of services a council should provide.
Yes, they need to be staffed, cleaned and can be subject to vandalism and graffiti, but it shouldn't matter - access to free toilets in the city centre are a fundamental service.
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u/glasgowburner 12h ago
The toilets here were installed last year to combat the fact the people's palace had closed and that was the free public toilets for the area. They just had to have provision for toilets, nothing said they had to be free unfortunately.
I've seen delivery drivers sleeping in those ones in Glasgow green, not sure there's any way to stop that other than locking them after a certain time?
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u/PercyDiAngelo 1d ago
I miss being small enough to wriggle under the cubicle door. Also, being young enough not to realise what I was wriggling through.
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u/Humble_Flow_3665 18h ago
The sound that came out of me when I actually thought...
Army-crawling through pissy puddles and used toilet roll, ahh what a childhood haha!
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u/StatusSeparate2307 1d ago
I miss many things about the uk but not the complete lack of decent and clean toilets it’s mental and paying to use à toilet is also mental. There are places in the world where paying via taxation to maintain council toilets is still an acceptable and vital part of local budgets not some fancy extra! Surprisingly the person responsible for cleaning the toilet is supposed to be the person who made the mess and this is also still a recognized part of other societies!? Well done OP!
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u/Scotjock81 1d ago
Who said we can't have drug consumption rooms 😂
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u/PuritanicalGoat 1d ago
Irony being that that very facility is a mere 5 minutes walk from the green.
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u/PercyDiAngelo 1d ago
I once got the polis called on me because I was hiding in a toilet. But I was 10 and embarrassed because I'd pissed myself on a school trip. Would have been way more fun if drugs were involved.
eta: Well, more fun NOW if drugs were involved. Probably not for 10yo me, that innocent little bastard.
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u/Humble_Flow_3665 18h ago
I felt an urge to defend a 10yo-you against now-you for calling you a bastard.
Aye.
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u/clearly_quite_absurd 1d ago
20p cash or on a card machine is a bargain compared to 50p cash only at Queen Street IMHO
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u/familiarice 1d ago
I wish that train stations made their toilets free for ticket holders.
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u/LeatherandLatex9999 1d ago
Network Rail do
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u/Amazing-Squash-4798 1d ago
I told the guy on shift that I was pregnant, didn't have 50p and was going to jump the turnstile. He watched me jump it and I didn't get lifted or anything. Saw a few folk behind me jump it too!
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u/El_Scot 1d ago
There are toilets on Glasgow Green? Where abouts?
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u/SheWalksonRainbows 1d ago
Right across from where Glasgow City council keeps their pile of crap. At the entrance off Greendyke st. and Charlotte st.
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u/Only_Amphibian3107 1d ago
I went a few weeks ago and they were all open, although looked like you needed to pay. I didn't pay and they were all an absolute state. Disgusting!!
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u/auggiescobie 10h ago
I’ve used them a few times over the last few months - they’ve always been open and free and also have been immaculate every time I’ve used them !
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u/Only_Amphibian3107 10h ago
Oh that's good to hear! I was so disheartened when I saw the state of them all that day. One of the locks was also broken. I had to check them all and find the "best" one that day but they were all manky. Probably came and cleaned them later on
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u/Positive_Attitude_73 1d ago
As long as they take contactless, 20p seems like a bargain if it’s a clean, maintained and secured facility.
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u/Possible-Internal-48 1d ago edited 1d ago
Are you also going to go by later and clean/repair them for free? Or does the "shouldnt have to pay" revolution only apply when you arent the one doing the work?
ETA: Not going to reply to every comment but damn do I wish reddit nerds would stop bleating about "boot lickers" every time someone disagrees with them. As soon as someone uses that word, I assume they are a teenager with no life experience or wit. If you disagree with something I have said, use your words and explain your thoughts. Like an adult.
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u/JimmytheTrumpet 1d ago
Public toilets in my hometown are free (as they are everywhere in Australia). They get cleaned just fine without it.
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u/GeneralSEOD 1d ago
The irony being we sent all the criminals to Australia and they somehow have managed to setup a society that acts better in public than we do.
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u/Amazing-Squash-4798 1d ago
Bet taxpayers money goes towards cleaning them. In the UK, fuck knows what taxpayers money goes to. We're lucky to even have a public (or privatised I suppose) toilet available.
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u/SheWalksonRainbows 1d ago
We can't have nice things here. There are a few different groups of people who will trash them with their drug usage or for funsies.
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u/the_silent_redditor 19h ago
I also live in Australia and I’d take the Glasgow drug users over the Aussie ones.
Meth is endemic here and.. I assure you it’s not pleasant.
It’s ridiculous that the top comment here is saying hurr durr r you also gunna pay for cleaning!?
Glasgow isn’t some outlier city where public toilets absolutely must be charged.
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u/redwriterhand 1d ago
as they should be but unfortunately a lot of people in here would rather we pay so the city can afford more cycle lanes
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u/No-Dance1377 1d ago
So cycle lanes are stopping toilets being cleaned now. Is this a new Facebook copy / paste talking point for all the bootlickers to spread ?
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u/redwriterhand 1d ago
Talk about bootlickers 😂
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u/Dizzy_Rise3111 1d ago
Let me guess. Gruppenfüher Farage has your best interests at heart bc he spoke to taxi drivers?
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u/memematron 1d ago
Dudes like this will complain about being stuck behind a cyclist then protest cycle lanes being put up so they're no longer stuck behind cyclists
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u/seoras13 1d ago
We can have toilets & cycle lanes, both are of benefit & aren't: if you have one you can't have the other.
Anyone can shoehorn a pet dislike into a thread & derail it. Me saying: well if we didn't have to pay to police orange walks, isn't the solution cunts are looking for when they think some service could be better
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u/redwriterhand 1d ago
You think if someone is bent on shitting up the wall that 20p will stop them?
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u/FEK88 1d ago
Probably enough to stop them being used by junkies.
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u/bazooka_toot 1d ago
Aye you can walk into a multi storey car park to shoot up and shite up against a Jaecoo for free.
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u/ParentheticalsAside 1d ago
It doesn't matter that they need cleaned or might get vandalised - that's part of the running cost. Giving citizens and visitors easy access to free toilets around the city is a basic council service that shouldn't be controversial or contentious. It's a scandal that we let them close so many down in the first place.
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u/B_Bare_500 20h ago
Problem is no one ever wants to pay more tax, there's always some demand for something to be saved/fixed/helped but never anyone wanting to pay more tax
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u/ParentheticalsAside 20h ago
True. I guess my point is that of all those things needing saved/fixed/helped, giving people in the city centre somewhere to piss is pretty fundamental and should be considered an essential.
Glasgow also suffers because folk in surrounding suburbs use the city centre and its amenities/services while paying council taxes to their own peripheral councils. I'd like to see a return to a larger, more efficient council encompassing and sharing services between Glasgow City and it main surrounding suburbs. A more streamlined, unified approach to things like recycling, public transport and education could potentially free up some money currently being wasted on duplication.
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u/Call_It_What_U_Want2 18h ago
You could call it something like Strathclyde
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u/ParentheticalsAside 18h ago
It would need to be smaller than the former SRC, I think.
Glasgow + East Dun. + East Ren. + Renfrewshire + a bit of South Lan.
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u/B_Bare_500 20h ago
Agree, if not increasing council area then at least implement congestion charges & raise funds that way.
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u/ParentheticalsAside 20h ago
I'm convinced there's a happy medium to be found between Strathclyde Regional Council (too big) and the current system (too fragmented).
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u/NoNommen 1d ago
you know, we do deserve nice things in society, like free toilets and well-paid labour
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u/Dizzy_Rise3111 1d ago
Let me introduce you to ✨council tax✨
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u/SheWalksonRainbows 1d ago
We can barely take care of the bare minimum in Glasgow. Forget maintaining a public toilet.
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u/Dizzy_Rise3111 1d ago
Yep. Which is a budgeting problem. The amount of waste with the GCC is deplorable. And that's as an SNP voter and supporter.
A prime example is George square. More green space took away and no one can justify the cost.
Human beings biology dictates that we produce biological waste, we need to somewhere to discard it. Council tax covers this. It should be available.
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u/SheWalksonRainbows 1d ago
Oh, I fully agree. Btw, does the revamp of George Square include public toilets? Nah.
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u/Dizzy_Rise3111 1d ago
It doesn't but is the cost of a public toilet cost much less than than a concrete jungle in the city center that absolutely no one asked for? Yah
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u/Candiedstars 1d ago edited 1d ago
No, I think with all the money that flows through the bus station, they can surely afford to hire upkeep like every other public bathroom
Edit: I dunno why I thought they were talking about the bus station when it said Glasgow Green, ffs...
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u/Amazing-Squash-4798 1d ago
It's 50p in queen st station, surely the price of train fares they can afford to let us pee for free.
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u/Inevitable_Fun_1234 17h ago
But free in Central. The difference between our two major stations in that is rediculous.
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u/Upset_Gerbil 1d ago
It used to be we had cleaners employed to do such things without charging people to take a shit, instead of not caring if they shit their pants because they don't have change on them
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u/cjsarab 19h ago
It's not that hard for public services to be maintained. It's reasonable to expect councils to support and maintain public toilets.
When I visited Russia (in the before times) I noticed they had attendants working at their public toilets and they were keeping them clean. It's really not that difficult and if a country as backwards as that can manage it why shouldn't we expect the same?
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u/scottishclarke 1d ago
The 20p charge isn't even kept by the council, it gets paid directly to a private contractor that maintains the toilets.
They don't make a massive income from the 20p charge, it's mainly there to deter vandalism.
By blocking the doors open you're basically guaranteeing the units will be vandalised - and that cost gets passed back to the council.
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u/BosssNasss 1d ago
I pished for free at the Barras as a junkie had left his kit in there and the door was jammed open. Got to appreciate the little things in life.
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u/RestaurantAntique497 1d ago
20p isn't really a lot of money for the upkeep of them.
There's a reason the free ones underground were eventually closed because they were all horrid.
Also the people who will undoubtedly call me a bootlicker you're probably never happy and would be quick to moan that said toilets were disgusting when they inevitably were
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u/Saltire_Blue 1d ago
Next you’ll tell us you don’t pay taxes while taking advantage of public services
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u/ScientistStandard100 1d ago
So if someone needs a shite they have to do it with the door open to save someone else having to pay 20p?
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u/throwaway_outcast23 1d ago
No, just like with all pay to use bathrooms you can still get out once you close it behind you.
So you can still go pan a fat one, door closed n all, and then when ur leaving just prop it open again for the next person…. That allows the smell to waft away too rather than linger 😂
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u/Friendly_Yak_2713 1d ago
Have you ever used free public toilets around Glasgow? Always the most disgusting places on earth. I would pay 20p every day to have a place that excludes people who can't pay 20p to use it
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u/charlossain 1d ago
Sticking it to the man by refusing to contribute to public utilities.
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u/redwriterhand 1d ago
You shouldn’t have to pay to use the toilet. Get the council’s boot out your mouth
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1d ago
[deleted]
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u/redwriterhand 1d ago
I think if the largest local authority in Scotland can’t afford toilet roll for public toilets then it’s badly mismanaged.
Oh wait
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u/Objective_Most4071 1d ago edited 1d ago
By the same logic you shouldn't pay your council tax because it includes an element of waste water charge?
E: What's the point in posting a reply and then deleting all your comments. Why do people do this. Making statements like 'you shouldn't have to pay to use the toilet' and then pivoting to what they really meant was 'my council tax should already cover it'.
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u/redwriterhand 1d ago
Not the same logic though is it because I already pay my council tax. You want me to pay in addition to
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u/Objective_Most4071 1d ago
'You shouldn't have to pay to use the toilet.'
Literally pays part of their council tax to use the toilet.
'It's not the same though is it!'
No one is stopping you underpaying your council tax in moral protest at having to pay to use the toilet.
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u/redwriterhand 1d ago
Yes I pay my council tax to use the toilet. Why then should I pay in addition to that to use a public toilet?
You’re just making my point for me?
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u/Objective_Most4071 1d ago
So your argument is now you actually should have to pay to use the toilet?
You just think your current contribution that you pay to use the toilet via your council tax (which you previously said people shouldn't pay for) should actually be enough to pay for all public toilet use?That was a quick pivot from 'you shouldn't have to pay' to 'yes you should have to pay but I've already paid enough'.
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u/redwriterhand 1d ago
I think you’re deliberately misconstruing what I said, because I clearly meant you shouldn’t have to pay 20p to use a public toilet. Yes I think our council tax should pay for this. Yes I think you know exactly what I meant and I hope you never get caught short in town without 20p. Wouldn’t that be a tragedy.
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u/Objective_Most4071 1d ago
'You shouldn't have to pay to use the toilet'
'Actually what I meant was all council tax payers shouldn't have to pay to use the toilet as they've already paid. People should absolutely pay to use the toilet as part of their council tax though.'
Should non-residents have to pay to use the toilet? What about those who don't pay council tax? I presume not? So it's not actually about having already paid and more a matter of principle?
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u/redwriterhand 1d ago
Look mate I’m not arguing with you anymore. You’ve misunderstood and you look stupid.
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u/cammyk123 1d ago
If you pay council tax you already contribute.
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u/charlossain 1d ago
I don’t mind giving another 20p now and again to make sure I have a bit of paper to wipe my arse with.
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u/cammyk123 1d ago
I already give them 100s of 20p's.
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u/charlossain 1d ago
Aye, and you also pay them a number of other one-off fees to make use of things like swimming pools, registry offices and bulk waste uplift.
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u/gravityglues 1d ago
Well done for doing absolutely nothing good. Theres a reason to put a slight next nothing to fee in the way, slight barriers like this deter people from hanging about in there/shooting up/being general nuisances. May seem like a tiny price wouldn't stop people but it does. Did you just land in from la la land or something? 😄
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u/alphahydra 1d ago
Nah OP is making the fatcat CEOs of Big Toilet pay dearly for their greed. Down with crapitalism.
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u/flowerhi 1d ago
mad how people are so beaten down by a shitty government that theyll trip over themselves rushing to defend keeping pooping behind a paywall
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u/Willing_Original_257 1d ago
Viva la revolution everyone
"When the communists take over, I won't be in the mines or the fields, not me, I'll just be a party leader and play PlayStation and go to meetings once a day. Not me, I'm not made for cleaning or labouring."
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u/mccoach_creative 1d ago
Where is this? I've never paid for a look in Glasgow. There's always a big shopping centre nearby with one
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u/Humble_Flow_3665 18h ago
Thanks for your service, I'm sure somebody sprinting off a train ready to burst appreciated it! We've all been there.
Are they clean? Like, actually cleaned regularly?
I don't mind 20p or even 50p if they're clean, and the doors close, and they flush and have a seat that doesn't swing. And toilet paper. And soap. I know, I'm spoilt.
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u/Odd_Consideration_ 13h ago
I walk past Queen Street station on my way to Glasgow Central and I'd rather go into a shop or wait until I'm at Central than pay for the bathrooms. One time the guard or cleaner (can't remember) let me through, though.
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u/ExcitementBroad9904 1d ago
The worst thing to happen to the central toilets was making them free. Now they're boggin constantly and open to junkies.
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u/HomoThug4Life 1d ago
i shouldn’t have to pay 20p to get my boaby sooked, but on the other hand i shouldn’t expect council tax payers to fund spaces for me to get a gammy
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u/FroggingRibbiting 21h ago
You're a tramp. It's 20 pence.
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u/Humble_Flow_3665 18h ago
A tramp might just have pissed on the wall or lowped the barrier. He's something but I don't think tramp is quite the right term here.
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u/BeepBeepB0opBo0p 1d ago
Guy thought he was paying it forward or somesuch but he has started a debate about public finances and responsibility. Pandoras Cludgie