Toilets to be built in Petersfield Central Car Park and Queen Elizabeth Country Park
A new ‘Changing Places’ toilet, with a hoist and changing bench, will be built in Petersfield’s Central Car Park in February.
The toilet is designed for people with disabilities who require additional facilities not offered by standard accessible toilets.
The Changing Places toilets are bigger, with room for one or two carers, and provide the equipment and support needed by those with severely limited mobility.
A second Changing Places toilet is also being installed at Queen Elizabeth Country Park (QECP).
There are around 250,000 people in the country who cannot use standard accessible toilets. The new Changing Places toilet will open up Petersfield town centre and QECP as more accessible places to work and visit.
The new facility in Petersfield Central Car Park will be located next to the current toilet block.
Construction will begin on Monday 12 February and will last 13 weeks. During this time around 18 car parking spaces will be blocked off. Six parking spaces will be lost permanently to the new building.
Cllr Robert Mocatta, EHDC’s Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Prosperity, said: “There are thousands of people who cannot use standard accessible toilets and need some extra support.
“Places that have no suitable facilities are effectively cut off from them.
“These Changing Places toilets make it so much easier to use public conveniences and mean that everyone can enjoy a trip to Petersfield and Queen Elizabeth Country Park in comfort.
"During construction there will be some disruption, but we will try to keep this to a minimum.”
Changing Places toilets are part of a £30 million Government-backed scheme, run in partnership with the charity Muscular Dystrophy UK.
EHDC has developed a funding package of £160,744 to deliver the Changing Places toilet in Petersfield Car Park, working with the Department of Levelling Up Housing & Communities, Hampshire Countryside Services and the South Downs National Park Authority.