Germany Found a Cheap Way to Fix Its Lack of Public Restrooms

Welcome to the “Nice Toilet.”

 

From The Atlantic CityLab  Feargus O'Sullivan   @FeargusOSull

  There are few things more frustrating than struggling to find a public restroom when you’re desperate. Hunt for a city-run facility and too often you can’t find anything nearby (and if you do, the chances are it’s a dump). Dive into a café or bar and you either have to go through the charade of pretending you’re a customer or hope that staff are too busy to stop you. None of this is meant maliciously, of course. Public restrooms are expensive to maintain, while few employees relish cleaning up after people who aren’t even contributing to their wages. Still, you can’t help wishing there was some sort of solution.

In Germany, it looks like there may be one that really works. The country’s Nette Toilette (“Nice Toilet”) system has created a compromise between public and private restrooms that makes such obvious sense it’s hard to believe that other countries aren’t doing it already too. It works like this. German cities pay businesses a monthly fee of anything from €30 to €100 ($33 to $110) a month to open up their restrooms for the general public. These businesses then put a sticker in their window to let the public know they’re welcome to use the facilities even if they’re not buying. First launched in 2000 and now including 210 member cities (including some in Switzerland), the network is a private one that charges participating cities a modest fee to use their branding. Sixteen years in, it’s still on a roll. At the end of October, the network announced that it is expanding to Munich, which will be its largest urban area yet.

 

The advantages of the scheme are obvious. By creating the Nice Toilet network, many German cities have hugely increased the number of publicly accessible restrooms without having to pump in major investment. It’s estimated that the city of Bremen, for example, has managed to create a restroom network that, if it had been run exclusively by the city, would have cost €1.1 million ($1.2 million) to run. Instead, it costs the city just €150,000 ($165,000) annually — a sum that covers the €100 per month the city pays participating businesses to keep their restrooms open. So popular has this stipend proved that Bremen now has Germany’s best ratio of public restrooms to residents. Each Bremen public toilet shared by an estimated 3,210 people, a statistic that makes Frankfurt’s ratio of 22,000 people per toilet (the worst in Germany) seem pretty risible.

Still, not everyone is in love with the concept, and in some towns with limited options or tighter regulations it has failed. The small Swiss city of Rheinfelden, for example, found that too many participating restrooms were in bars that banned children, that the facilities were not all open for enough of the day and caused some insurance concerns. Meanwhile, some Munich businesses are grumbling that providing public toilets is not their stock in trade — a somewhat unnecessary complaint given that the scheme is not compulsory. Still, the network seems to have had no trouble finding businesses ready to open their restroom doors, possibly because, aside from the small fee the city pays them, the scheme gives them extra footfall that can help push up their profits. In cities that are frankly bursting for relief from their public restroom drought, it’s pretty hard to find a flaw in this sensible, affordable compromise.

When you have to go... (again)

City Councillor Elizabeth Ball was talking about the lack of public washrooms in our city on CBC radio. This has been a concern of mine for many years, in fact I brought a motion to Park Board to ensure that there was soap and hot water in all of our public washrooms --a motion that passed unanimously. So I thought I would reprint my blog post from September 2009 for the benefit of those visiting for the first time:

It’s a fact of life, perhaps one we don’t want to acknowledge, but we all have to go sometimes. We all try to go at home, but sometimes we can be caught short. For most of us this is an inconvenience, but for those who don’t have a home or for those who need to go frequently, this is a chronic problem. Public conveniences have been available since at least the time of the Roman Empire—in fact until recent times, public lavatories were all that was available except for the very rich. Towns and cities had public conveniences for the masses but over time a lot of them have been decommissioned and removed. Many cities are now rebuilding these.

Here in Vancouver we are fortunate to have several public washrooms installed by the city, and many more throughout the city in our public parks. A debate on the cost and necessity of these park facilities is coming before the Park Board in the next year, and I would like to know your views on these facilities. Do you think they are important? Should scarce public funds be used for public toilets? Every park can’t support a public washroom, so which ones should?
Let me know what you think. Write to me at: betterparks@gmail.com or drop a line to the Park Board.

Annual Fall Leaf Guide

City of Vancouver
Information Bulletin
October 13, 2016 

  

 

Stormy fall and winter weather can cause clogged catch basins (also called storm drains) to flood. Help prevent flooding in your neighbourhood by raking and clearing leaves from the catch basin in front of your home and putting the leaves into your Green Bin.

All leaves that are cleared from catch basins, sidewalks, boulevards and residents property should be added to their Green Bin until it is full. Leaves that do not fit in their Green Bin, should be stored in a dry area and added to the Green Bin again once it is emptied. Green Bins will continue to be collected weekly according to residents’ regular collection schedule.

Extra Leaf Collection

Extra leaves that do not fit in residents Green Bins should be placed in biodegradable paper yard waste bags and stored in a dry area until our extra leaf collection program starts.  Bagged leaves will be collected city-wide by crews on the following designated weekends: 

·         October 29 to 30

·         November 19 to 20 (updated date)

·         December 10 to 11

·         January 14 to 15, 2017 (Christmas trees will also be collected)

Leaves may be collected on either Saturday or Sunday (not both days). To avoid a missed collection, residents are asked to set their leaves out for collection before

7:00 am on the scheduled Saturday and to download the VanCollect app on their smartphone for collection reminders.

Street Leaf Cleaning

City crews will begin to clear streets of leaves on November 14 with added focus on streets with higher volumes of leaves. If temporary "no parking" signs are posted on a side of the street, residents are required to move vehicles to another parking spot before 7:00 a.m. on the date indicated. Vehicles that are not moved may be ticketed or towed. At times, crews may be delayed in some neighbourhoods with large amounts of leaves but will return as soon as possible to complete the work. Moving your vehicle enables crews to do a better job of clearing streets of leaves.

Leaves to Compost

Collected leaves are turned in to nutrient-rich compost at the Vancouver Landfill. This compost can be purchased by residential gardeners, commercial landscapers and municipal park boards. Leaves and other yard trimmings can also be dropped off for composting at the Vancouver South Transfer Station located at 377 West Kent Ave North and at the Vancouver Landfill located at 5400 72nd Street in Delta.

Helpful guidelines on the City’s fall leaf program can be found at vancouver.ca/leaves.

Disposing of leaves on boulevards or City property (including parks) is illegal dumping, and can result in a fine of up to $10,000.

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Media Contact:

Corporate Communications

604.871.6336

What's happening at the Vancouver School Board?

I don't as a rule write about school and education issues on this blog, but the on going crisis at the Vancouver School Board (my employer) can effect other areas of the city as well. The Park Board shares facilities and fields with the VSB, and instability in one organization can have repercussion at the other. Here is an Op/Ed written by my Green caucus mate VSB Trustee Janet Fraser, on what is happening there:

Opinion: Life as a VSB trustee

Janet Fraser
More from Janet Fraser

Published by the Vancouver Sun, October 5, 2016

What is life like as a Vancouver School Board (VSB) trustee? I usually enjoy working to make education better for our students, but both my first week as a trustee and this most recent week have been very challenging.

In November 2014, nine VSB trustees were elected, four Vision and four NPA, with myself as the lone Green. With this 4-4-1 board, if Vision and NPA disagree, my vote will be the decider. This happened with my very first vote, voting for the board chair. Patti Bacchus had been chairwoman for six years under two Vision majority boards, but I voted for the NPA’s nominee, Christopher Richardson, because Vision no longer had a majority and I wanted to reflect voters’ desire for change. The social media backlash was immediate, and it was clear that it would be difficult to set aside partisan differences to work collaboratively as a board.

Moving forward to this week, in the midst of considering school closures the entire VSB senior management team is on medical leave. I value and respect every member of our senior management team and hope that their leaves resolve well. I am disappointed in myself as I am the vice-chair, and despite holding this leadership position our district has come to this outcome.

At our last board meeting, our Acting Superintendent recommended that the school closure process be suspended. Despite the board’s unanimous approval to move forward with closure consultations for 11 schools, I voted to suspend the process as without our senior management team the VSB does not have the capability to carry out these meetings in any meaningful way. I realize this decision will impact next year’s budget as our available funding is spread ever-more thinly across the district, and that it may also impact our ability to provide temporary accommodation to move forward our seismic program as soon as possible. However, the well-being of our staff cannot be put at risk by unrealistic expectations. I disagree with our Vision chairman Mike Lombardi’s position that the minister’s removal of the 95-per-cent capacity utilization requirement will fundamentally change our Long Range Facility Plan and school closure process. The minister’s announcement still requires a solid case for funding seismic upgrades and that there be the right number of schools for the actual number of students, which to me are essentially the same parameters.

In the near future, a special advisor will submit his report to the minister and WorkSafeBC will investigate allegations in a letter from the B.C. School Superintendents Association that the VSB work environment creates a toxicity that fosters fear and a lack of a sense of safety for those lead educators as the expectations requested of them are unmanageable.

I usually downplay party political affiliations when I write about being a trustee, but I have learned they are always present and I acknowledge that reality here. I work hard to make evidence-based decisions that focus on the best interests of our students, but I cannot get away from the fact that VSB decisions play out in a partisan political arena, at both the municipal and provincial levels. I do not align with any other political party, I do not vote for or against any party, rather I vote for our students and their public education. I am finding it more and more difficult to work collaboratively with my fellow trustees when I know that our work will always be viewed through a political rather than an educational lens.

Trustees have the responsibility to support the success of every student in our district, and right now we must focus on these nearly 50,000 students to ensure their education is not affected by the dysfunction at the board level.

Janet Fraser is a Green Party Vancouver School Board trustee.

Vancouver offers 3,000 trees for $10 each

 

Steve Whysall,   Vancouver Sun 

Published: September 26, 2016 Updated: September 27, 2016 3:50 PM

 

Do you have room in your garden for another tree? Or perhaps you don’t have any trees in your garden and you think it’s time to plant one.

 

Now’s the perfect time to do it. And Vancouver Park Board is making it a whole lot easier by offering residents 3,000 trees at a bargain price of $10 each as part of the city’s plan to get 150,000 trees planted by 2020 in a bid to “replenish the urban forest” and make Vancouver one of the greenest cities in the world.

 

This is the third time the city has made this offer. Featuring 27 varieties of trees, the sale will be held Oct. 1 and 2. Residents are encouraged to place orders online and then pick up their tree/trees at the Hillcrest Community Centre, 4575 Clancy Loranger Way Vancouver.

 

“These sales are critical to us getting trees into the hands of private citizens to support our goals of 150,000 new trees planted in Vancouver by 2020,” says Margo Harper, spokesperson for the park board

 

Trees being offered include this extensive list: Bing cherry, Brown Turkey and Desert King fig, Carolina allspice, cascara, Combination apple, Constellation dogwood, Cupid sour cherry, Emperor Japanese maple, McNair horse chestnut, Gladiator crabapple, hardy orange, Hot Wings Tatarian maple, Japanese tree lilac, Leyland cypress, Little Woody redbud, Mayday tree, Pagoda dogwood, Prairie Spire Green ash, Prairie Torch buckeye, Rainbow’s End spruce, Showy mountain ash, Showbird hawthorn, Spring Show crabapple, stag horn sumac, Twisty Baby robinia, vine maple, and Norway spruce.

 

“We have had  pretty slow uptake on pre-sales compared to spring and last fall,” says Harper, “but there are some very interesting and unusual trees for sale at great prices.”

 

Vancouver residents can buy up to a maximum of three trees per household. The trees are worth about $75 each but are not suitable for balconies or inside the home.

 

“We are planning for annual spring and fall sales going forward,” says Vancouver park board chair Sarah Kirby-Yung.

 

“Vancouverites can play a vital role as planting partners to help us restore our tree canopy and meet our goals for a healthy urban forest,” she says.

 

Residents who have ordered and paid for their trees online can pick them up October 1st or 2nd at Hillcrest Centre.

 

A limited number of trees will be available for cash purchase on Sunday, October 2 between 2 pm – 4 pm.

 

Trees are only available for sale to City of Vancouver residents. ID and proof of address will be required when picking up trees.

 

Today, only 18 per cent of Vancouver is covered by tree canopy, a drop from 22 per cent in 1995. 

 

For more information go to Vancouver Fall Tree Sale

 

http://www.theprovince.com/vancouver+offers+trees+each/12230042/story.html

Concerned residents seek answers as geese continue to deface Women's Monument

Geese droppings have been defacing the monument in Vancouver’s Thornton Park since 2013

By Cory Correia, CBC News Posted: Sep 22, 2016 7:08 PM PT


The continuing defacement of a Vancouver monument has concerned citizens asking city hall for answers.

Geese droppings have been defacing the Women's Monument in Vancouver's Thornton Park since 2013.

The monument features 14 pink granite benches in memory of the 14 women who were murdered in the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre in Montreal and is dedicated to ending violence against women.

Chris McDowell and members of the Women's Monument Committee pay their respects. (Cory Correia/CBC News)

Chris McDowell belongs to the Women's Monument Committee, which is trying to find a long-term solution to keeping the benches clean.

"We created this with the support of thousands of people to fight violence against women, and it really ruins it when it's covered in excrement," said McDowell.

She says geese have been displaced into the park by nearby property development and is urging city hall to create bylaws and policies that make developers accountable for relocating wildlife.

A memorial bench at Thornton Park is covered in geese droppings. (Cory Correia/CBC News)

The benches are designed to gather rainwater and portray a pool of tears. McDowell said when the geese were displaced, the bench pools became their one water source.

"They excrete up to four pounds a day. They excrete involuntarily, and when they drink they excrete. And it's just amazing what a mess this monument can become," said McDowell.

Geese droppings are defacing the Women's Monument at Thornton Park in Vancouver. (Cory Correia/CBC News)

Vancouver Park Board Commissioner Stuart Mackinnon says the park board has looked into increased cleaning. They have also investigated moving the geese and have put up signs asking the public not to feed or disturb the geese.

But Mackinnon insists these solutions fall short of the bigger issue of animal displacement due to development.

"It's bigger than just the goose problem here, although that's what we're talking about, but having developers take the initiative to relocate in a humane fashion wildlife that they're disturbing, I think that that's a very important issue and that's something the city can be involved in."

McDowell says the number of geese has grown from 12 to 67 over the last three years, and with the construction of St.Paul's Hospital next door, she experts more wildlife to relocate to the park in the future.

Bike share program expanding into Stanley Park

 

RenaHeer, Reporter / Anchor, CTV Vancouver   Published Thursday, September 22, 2016 6:25PM PDT

 

Vancouver's new bike share program is expanding into the city's largest park, with plans for seven stations where cyclists can rent a ride.

 

The Vancouver Park Board approved the new locations in the high-traffic hotspot on Monday, a decision some local businesses are strongly against. The board also approved another four stations elsewhere in the city.

 

Small bike rental shop owners located in the downtown core said they were misled to believe that the bike share program would not target tourists.

 

Operated by Mobi, the city's bike share program was scheduled to launch in mid-June, but was delayed until July when less than a quarter of the promised bikes were released.

 

Still, more than 73,000 trips have been taken on the bikes since July, so the city is calling it a success so far.

 

But even in its early stages, local bike rental shops were worried the Mobi bikes would bite into their client base. Many say they were assured the bikes would be catered to commuters, and would not hurt the local businesses who rent mostly to tourists.

 

"Inside the park isn't really a commute to and from work. That's where the issue begins," said Paulina Vargas from Bikes and Blades.

 

Now some of the shop owners say they feel they'll be forced to compete directly with Mobi, which is subsidized by the city. The Mobi bikes will also be right in the park, while the businesses' bikes are a few blocks away, so visitors to the park might be even more inclined to choose the more convenient options.

 

Sabha Saffari, from Stanley Park Cycles, said a station down the street has already cut his business back at least 35 per cent. He expects Mobi stations in the park itself will hit the shop even harder.

 

He said city officials consulted with bike shop owners, but then went against their wishes.

 

But a representative from the city said officials were clear that there would be stations around the downtown core, and that the bikes may be good for business.

 

"In many cases, what we've heard from other cities is there's actually an uplift in cycling in general, so this can be complementary to them," Scott Edwards said.

 

"The pricing structure is such that we would actually encourage people, if you want to rent a bike for more than half an hour or an hour, please go support one of the local businesses."

 

The newly approved Stanley Park stations will be located at:

• Second Beach south – 16 to 20 bike docks
• Second Beach north – 14 to 18 bike docks
• Third Beach – 32 bike docks
• Stanley Park Pavilion – number of docks not yet determined
• Vancouver Aquarium – 16 bike docks
• Information Booth – 18 to 20 bike docks
• Totem poles – 24 to 28 bike docks

 

The other new stations will be located at:

• Kitsilano Beach Park, south parking lot – 32 bike docks
• Sunset Beach, east parking lot – 32 bike locks
• Sunset Beach, west parking lot – 32 bike docks
• English Bay, bathhouse roof plaza – 30 bike docks

 

http://bc.ctvnews.ca/bike-share-program-expanding-into-stanley-park-1.3084864

Park Board takes steps towards second seniors’ centre in southeast Vancouver

Vancouver Park Board

News Release
September 20, 2016 

At a Board meeting last night, Vancouver Park Board directed staff to investigate potential sites for a seniors’ centre near Sunset Community Centre.

If built, the seniors’ facility would be the second one in southeast Vancouver after Killarney Seniors’ Centre. Construction on that centre is scheduled to start early next year and be completed in 2018.

“Vancouver’s seniors’ population is set to explode in the next 25 years, so it’s important there are facilities where seniors’ can connect in high demand neighbourhoods such as Sunset,” said Vancouver Park Board Chair Sarah Kirby-Yung.

“It has been a pleasure discussing the potential for a new facility with the Honourable Harjit Sajjan, MP for Vancouver South. Minister Sajjan is a strong supporter of the proposed seniors centre at Sunset Community Centre.”

Staff will explore a funding model similar to the Killarney Seniors’ Centre whereby the Board contributes land with funding from the City of Vancouver and other levels of government. Plans would take into consideration the existing Sunset Community Centre Master Plan.

"On behalf of the Sunset Community Association board, we are pleased to fully support a new south Vancouver seniors centre in Sunset. As a neighbourhood with tremendous diversity and a growing population of seniors, it will be a way to better serve more members of our community,” said Sunset Community Association President Greg Hubbard.

A seniors’ centre in the Sunset neighbourhood aligns with the Park Board’s direction to staff in February to develop a comprehensive seniors’ strategy, which is being created to address how seniors can be best served and supported long-term by Park Board facilities, services, and programs. 

Staff is to report back early next year on proposed sites for the seniors’ centre.

In the next 25 years, the number of residents aged 65 – 74 will increase almost 80 percent and the number of citizens older than 75 will more than double.  

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Media contact:

Vancouver Park Board

604-257-8440

Vancouver Park Board works on dog strategy

By Rosemary Newton

Monday, September 5, 2016 3:55:40 PDT PM 

The Vancouver Park Board is calling on the public to give them feedback on how the city’s parks and beaches can best be shared by people and dogs.

People, Parks, and Dogs: A Strategy for sharing Vancouver’s parks is currently in the works as the city’s dog population continues to rise. Consultants are looking for public input through a series of open houses in September and October.

Parks Board Commissioner Stuart Mackinnon said the board receives calls all the time ranging from dog owners complaining about a lack of off-leash areas, to others complaining about dogs off-leash in undesignated spots.

“It’s probably the number one issue that we hear about,” he said.

Mackinnon said it’s been a controversial subject for over 25 years and different boards have tried different things, including a citizen committee formed about 10 years ago that couldn’t come to a unanimous decision.

“This new board has decided that this is a topic that we would like to tackle and see if we can find a way to meet the needs of both dog owners and non-dog owners in our parks,” he said.

Consultations will take place at community centres, including Trout Lake, David Lam, St. James, Roundhouse, Langara, Sunset and Kitsilano. The committee is also looking at strategies from other cities. The new strategy will add to dog off-leash guidelines approved by the Park Board in 2012.

“We live in a fairly dense city, and the number of dogs and dog owners is increasing all the time,” said Mackinnon. “And there’s bound to be interactions between people with dogs and people without dogs.”

He said the committee is looking at factors like fenced areas, un-fenced areas, exclusive dog parks and exclusive non-dog parks.

The first public consultation will take place at Trout Lake Community Centre on Sept. 13 at 6 p.m.

Visit Vancouver.ca or email PeopleParksDogs@vancouver.ca for more info.

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