Pubs face closure over lack of female toilets

DOZENS of pubs around the Capital are facing closure or having their capacity slashed because they do not have enough female toilets.

New building standards regulations being enforced by the city council mean that one toilet is needed for every 30 customers.

But it assumes that half of all pub customers are women – meaning an equal number of male and female toilets are needed.

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That has left many pubs where the majority of drinkers are male having to build new female toilets.

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A pub with a capacity of 180 would need to have at least three female toilets.

It means that many traditional pubs – that may only have one female toilet – will need to build more or face having their capacity reduced. Some pub owners say they would be allowed up to a third fewer customers in their premises as a result of the policy.

And industry representatives say the new rules could force firms out of business.

Patrick Browne, chief executive of the Scottish Beer and Pub Association, criticised the licensing board in Edinburgh for enforcing the new rules. He said: "The problem with reducing capacity is it can have a significant impact on the viability of a business. If you try to reduce someone's capacity you could force them out of business.

"The difficulty is a lot of pubs are having a difficult enough time already and they can't put toilets in at a cost that will make sense."

The new building regulations have been known by pubs for more than a year. Most pubs that didn't have enough female toilets were granted 'transitional' licences that would allow them to operate while problems were dealt with.

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However, many of these licences are expected to come up for renewal in the coming months – meaning the city's licensing board is likely to enforce a reduced capacity if toilet provision is not at a suitable level.

One senior pub industry source, who owns some of Edinburgh's best-known pubs including some near Easter Road Stadium, said: "Potentially, you could have a third off your capacity, depending on what space you have.

" It will be a huge amount of lost revenue for pubs and that will impact on employment and on business rates."

The change has come about as a result of building control officers enforcing on older premises the same standards they use for new properties. The licensing board in Glasgow had been intending to enforce new capacity limits based on toilet provision but performed a U-turn in October.

John Loudon, convener of the licensing law sub-committee of the Law Society of Scotland, said: "At the last meeting of the (Edinburgh) licensing forum I asked the chair if Edinburgh would follow Glasgow's lead and drop the whole thing. She said no.

"I am not persuaded that the licensing board has the power to require people to put in additional sanitary provision on transitional applications.

What will probably happen is we will get to the situation where the applicant will say they cannot do it, building control will say they have to, then the licensing board will make a decision."

A city council spokesman said: "The board, rather than refuse an application outright, can grant a licence for a year to address outstanding matters that had been raised regarding the premises.

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"Each month until next September the board will reconsider a certain number of licences granted on that basis. If the licence holders have found it impossible to do the work, the board can refuse the licence, grant it for another 12 months maximum or grant it in perpetuity as amended as members think fit."

'Leave it to customer choice'

AS THE owner of one of the city's many small pubs, Sandy Patterson, above, says the new regulations could threaten the future of some of the Capital's best-loved bars.

While his own bar, Dagda, on Buccleuch Street, is covered as it has a capacity of about 64 and has two ladies' toilets, he fears for others.

"The modern venues, which are often bigger, will have sufficient facilities, but the more traditional places won't have," said Mr Patterson, who has owned the Newington pub for five years.

"It should all come down to the customers' choice. If they're not happy, they will go elsewhere."

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