Hi All,
Further to Peter's encouraging contribution, what usually slips the minds of
'establishment' type folks is that many disabled people are STILL unable to
take up influential positions of employment because of society's disabling
effect upon them - THAT is why it remains important to seek the views of
disabled people in Access Groups and Disability Fora.
Regards,
Vin West
Arfon Access Group
Glyn Dwr
Llandwrog Uchaf
Caernarfon
Gwynedd
LL54 7RA
Tel: 01286 880761
Fax: 001775 6652884
----- Original Message -----
From: "Marcus Ormerod" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2002 4:05 PM
Subject: FW: Role of Planning Access Groups
> 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
>
> ----------End of Message----------
>
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