Peterhead Community Council involves local residents in disability awareness campaign
A campaign launched by Peterhead Community Council is giving residents an opportunity to experience the town centre as a disabled person to highlight everyday challenges.
The campaign, Let’s Talk about Accessibility, involved a group from the council spending two days encouraging the public to experience town using a variety of mobility aids.
Amongst the first to accept the challenge were Josh Mennie, Head of Office and Public Affairs for Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) Karen Adams and Councillor Anouk Kloppert.
Josh Mennie told the Press and Journal Evening Express that the campaign had been very positively received and the campaign was “really effective” in highlighting some of the day-to-day issues that people with disabilities face when trying to access the same venues and shops able-bodied people access with ease.
The campaign helped provide many opportunities for locals to discuss issues caused by the cobbles, poor access to shops, a lack of changing place toilets and the misuse of blue badge parking spaces.
The Department for Transport’s guide, ‘Inclusive Mobility: A Guide to Best Practice on Access to Pedestrian and Transport Infrastructure’, describes features that need to be considered in the provision of an inclusive environment and issues related to disabling barriers.
Discussing footpaths and crossings, changes in level, tactile paving surfaces, car parking, bus stops, building access, and more, the overall objective of the guide is to enable practitioners to provide an inclusively designed public realm, and through that help achieve social inclusion.
Josh added that he felt being pushed around in a wheelchair in Peterhead town centre really brought home to him the challenges people with disabilities or mobility issues face. He said that he is hoping to help further the positive work of Peterhead Community Council and has been delighted to some of the town centre businesses already taking on board suggestions as to how they could improve accessibility in their premises.
