Thanks for the circulation, Marcus.
Being new comer in this field I'm facinated with what Peter had said.
They the engineers, planners and architects a like , always think they are
God in their field! They forgotten at the end of the day who use the
spaces/environment? Speaking from my experience recently, they told me "to
lock these people up". I was too shocked to response.
I'm still angry but I'm not keeping quiet for long. If you guys have
"bullet" to spare, please give it to me. Thanks.
Regards,
Rahmah.
To: "access" <[log in to unmask]>
cc:
<[log in to unmask] Subject: FW: Role of Planning Access Groups
k>
Sent by:
owner-accessibuilt@jisc
mail.ac.uk
10/07/02 11:05 PM
Please respond to
m.ormerod
This reply came off list so I thought I would circulate it so everyone was
in the picture.
marcus
Hi Darryl
If "access" is taken in its broader context to mean "access and mobility
for
disabled people" then it is easy to see that the need for proper provision
includes access to buildings, access to the environment ( highways and the
countryside), access to transport and access to information.
It is immediately obvious that to cover all these elements requires
"experts" from different disciplines working together on a basis of mutual
trust, because otherwise "the system" will never work. To give "the people"
(through their accountable local access groups) what they want, then they
must be brought into the decision-making processes that affect their lives
and be treated as an asset, because of their first hand experience, and not
as a liability.
Thus, it is incredibly naive for planners to think there is only one way of
"skinning a rabbit" by saying (to mix metaphors) that "you cannot have your
cake and eat it", just because there are two levels (access groups and
access statements) of safeguarding an inclusive society is made possible
for
disabled people. The two levels can complement (rather than oppose) each
other by spreading the responsibility of ensuring nothing slips through the
net. You will catch more fish with a fine mesh net than with a wide mesh
net.
You talk about access groups giving a "special" service. In fact the
opposite is true, disabled people are demanding participation in mainstream
life, by having the barriers removed. Having "special" services just for us
is, in fact, what isolates disabled people.
As former Mobility Officer in Lancashire (in my case as a highway engineer,
not as a trainer of sight impaired people), my very big patch covered the
14
District Councils in the County (prior to Blackpool and Blackburn becoming
Unitary Authorities) and included other big towns Burnley, Lancaster,
Preston. That did not stop me being asked to attend some meetings of Parish
or community groups and, I was very pleased to do so.
What we wrote into Lancashire's Code of Practice on Mobility (for the
benefit of road engineers) included things like the standards for footways,
placing of street furniture and bollards, gradients of access ramps etc.
These were just as relevant to parishes councils as they were to big town
access groups, even though not every organisation could be invited to join
our Mobility Advisory Panel. We would never have found a room big enough to
hold everyone.
As an anecdotal example, let me describe events at one parish meeting where
the insertion of 24 dropped kerbs was being demanded as essential. I told
the meeting we could find the money for 6 of them, as other parishes had
similar demands too, and I wanted the parish to decide which were top
priority. Then I sat back and listened and said nothing (silence was my
strongest tool).
As the arguments developed amongst themselves, it became clear that some
sites were not as essential as first suggested. By the end of the meeting,
all the hard work in deciding was done by the Parish, not me. They left the
Meeting delighted to have produced the promise (which was speedily
fulfilled) of 6 drop kerbs, all at places they had chosen themselves. Total
agreement! That is the beauty of asking people to be involved in the
decision making process instead of them being told: "This is what you can
have us planners and engineers know best". We don't - they actually live
there.
Peter
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