LONDON Residents of Soho, London’s famous neighbourhood London known for its intense nightlife, not endure the smell of piss in the streets. A good chunk of the nearly £1million the British capital spends on city cleaning each year is dedicated to washing the urine that has collected on walls and pavements.
A project presented by the District Council of Westminster aims to end the practice of using a means of getting back at the men who normally relieve themselves on the street.
It’s an “antipee paint” that promises to repel urine in public places, making it splash more and, for example, reach the clothes of those who break the rules. The substance is translucent, so strict bohemians can’t tell which area is “safe” to urinate in.
:quality(80)/cloudfrontuseast1.images.arcpublishing.com/estadao/IQPCFIF5QBHZ7JQVJ3QI2XKDCU.jpg "London is testing antipee paint to 'get revenge' on bohemians urinating in the streets 3")
Sign reading ‘This wall is not a urinal’ in an area where antipee spray has been used: a chronic problem in London’s back streets. Photo: Isabel Infantes/AFP
The peculiar proposal was a response to more than 3,000 complaints from the public to the local legislature and is inspired by similar experiences in Germany. “Of course urine is not pleasant. Our residents are angry,” Aicha Less, who holds the equivalent of a councilwoman, told AFP. “We will see the difference in six months and if there will be less smells,” he added, defending the right “to live in a clean and safe environment.”
In Soho there are signs saying “This wall is not a urinal”. The warnings complement London legislation which punishes anyone who treats public places as a toilet with fines of between £50 and £80.
:quality(80)/cloudfrontuseast1.images.arcpublishing.com/estadao/OB6O6P3X4NB5JEY6AZERAWTD2E.jpg "London is testing antipee paint to 'get revenge' on bohemians urinating in the streets 4")
Councilwoman Aicha Less splashes water on wall where antipee paint was used to show she sneezes a lot more on contact with wall: warning of rudeness. Photo: Isabel Infantes/AFP
According to Tim Lord, leader of a Soho residents’ association, there are more than 400 licensed shops in the neighborhood to sell alcoholic beverages. At least a hundred of them stay open until dawn. “Thousands of people are drinking here at night and this summer [do hemisfério Norte], Soho stunk. If antipee paint works it will reduce the problem of smelly streets and that is something to appreciate.”
Although Soho has several portable urinals dotted at strategic points from Thursday to Sunday night, public toilets have all but disappeared: some were closed during the most critical phase of the Covid pandemic and did not reopen as the health crisis abated.
:quality(80)/cloudfrontuseast1.images.arcpublishing.com/estadao/5G76YG5YENHHHAIAGVB5CWC4RM.jpg "London is testing antipee paint to 'get revenge' on bohemians urinating in the streets 5")
Street cleaners in London prepare antipee spray to be applied to walls in Soho, London’s bohemian district. Photo: Isabel Infantes/AFP
From Lord’s point of view, it is an “English problem”. “You don’t have to travel far in Europe or North America to find clean, wellmaintained public toilets. Soho is an important historical part of London, built in the 1650s and we just want our council to take care of that.”/AFP