THE new public toilets in Headley Road car park, Grayshott, are due to be opened next Friday by MP James Arbuthnot. The original toilet block at Grayshott, built more than 50 years ago, has been demolished and a new one built to the rear of the car park. It incorporates an accessible toilet for the disabled, a family or disabled toilet, with baby changing facilities and two unisex toilet cubicles. The new block is the third of three to either be completely modernised or rebuilt in the district, in accord with the aim of the East Hampshire Council to have: 'Loos to be proud of'. Two further schemes are currently in development, one in Alton, where work has already started on refurbishment, while the other in Selborne, is on the drawing board. Work started on building the new toilets in February of this year and was completed by the end of July. Next to the new toilet block is an office to be used by Hampshire Police for community officers serving the Grayshott area. Judy Onslow, the portfolio holder for environmental services, said: "The toilets in Grayshott were badly in need of replacing and the council is determined to demonstrate to residents and visitors alike throughout the district, that we care about this most basic health need. "The new toilets are advanced in their design and incorporate many innovative changes that help increase standards of hygiene." The new toilets feature a number of advanced designs, including the use of sun pipes. A pipe consists of a skylight mounted on the roof that funnels the natural light into a highly polished tube. It is intensified and reflected into the room below, where the light is diffused through a translucent ceiling fixture. Sanitary fittings are made of vandal-resistant materials. Flushing of toilets, soap dispensing, warm-water flow to the hand basins and hand drying are all controlled through 'no-touch' sensors. There is under floor heating, primarily to keep the floors dry, along with a 'person sensor' activated air extraction system in the ceiling to minimise odours. There is a child seat in each cubicle, complete with a harness to secure the child and a baby changing shelf within the family/ambulant disabled toilet. One unisex cubicle is provided for disabled people utilising a 'Radar key' and swipe card system of entry. All cubicles have two mirrors at differing heights with the lower mirror for persons suffering from curvature of the spine, dwarfism or for younger children. The various colours used in the glazed wall tiling, are to help the partially sighted in navigating the sanitary equipment, as well as for aesthetic reasons. All plumbing, water heating, waste and drainage systems and electrical services are incorporated within a service corridor spanning the complex and only accessible to service engineers. Toilet entrance doors can be locked and unlocked electronically at predetermined times as required, while internal electric lighting responds to the presence of a customer, coupled to external light levels.
