P-05-927 Changing Places toilet facilities, Correspondence – Petitioner to Committee, 10.12.19

Thank you for your email in conjunction with our petition. The document you sent goes someway to address the issues, but unfortunately not far enough. What we have uncovered is the fact Changing Places are unequally distributed from county to county. For example, Swansea has 7 Changing Places throughout the city, but here in Llanelli we don't have any in town centre, we've recently had one in Pembrey County Park, but that's not convenient if you're planning a theatre trip in Llanelli town centre. For such a large county Carmarthenshire only has 4 Changing Places facilities, 1 in Carmarthen that isn't even fully equipped, so not officially registered on Changing Places website. Tesco in Ammanford has a Changing Places facility, but yet Tesco in Trostre park Llanelli hasn't got one, with such a high footfall we as a group are dumbfounded as to why there isn't one in that area. We have spoken to so many people who can't participate in everyday activities as are too scared to leave home incase they need the toilet. In this day & age this shouldn't be happening. We have spoken to WWT Llanelli Wetlands Centre & they would like to provide a Changing Places facility but are unaware as to whom they turn to for funding. We are aware that there is funding but are confused ourselves as to how the criteria works. We believe this should be made available to businesses & companies that want to be more inclusive to their visitors. Some areas of Wales have higher proportion of Changing Places than others, we believe this is disproportionately unjust. What makes Swansea, for example, more deserving than Llanelli? Where a Town centre doesn't currently have a Changing Places facility, we believe a Mobiloo or a Mobile Changing Places facility needs to be hired in the interim until one is provided. Being encouraged to include Changing Places facility in plans for new builds we believe doesn't go far enough, especially when it's a Public Building. We believe they should be a legal requirement. We know in Carmarthenshire toilet strategy there showed a need for Changing Places facilities. But again, it is very ambiguous as to who is meant to fund them, and how to obtain the funding. We hope our petition will bring this important issue back to the forefront of discussions so that in 2020 we can make Wales a more Inclusive society for all.

Diolch 

Llanelli Changing Places Campaign Group