Access and Mobility Study Not Fit for Purpose
30 July 2010
Disability Action and a number of its member groups have raised concern over the Access and Mobility Study that is published today (Friday) by the DSD and DRD.
The study which has taken three years to complete makes a number of recommendations however, there has been little consultation with disabled people or their organisations in the development of these recommendations.
The document is meant to inform and ensure that public works undertaken in Belfast City Centre are accessible to disabled people but the fact that this study has been so significantly delayed and that many of the works are already underway shows the disregard to people with disabilities in accessing the City Centre.
In the email sent with a copy of the report the Department for Social Development says’ “While the study makes a number of recommendations, it is important to note that in the current economic climate it will be difficult to progress some of the possible interventions due to the severe funding constraints facing the public sector.”
Monica Wilson, Disability Action’s Chief Executive said in response: “This work has been going on for five years with no outcomes for us. People with disabilities are not asking for special provision in the city centre, just a fair deal to let us continue to work, shop, and socialise there. If the Departments forge ahead with the current plans without implementing provisions for people with disabilities such as the ‘mobility hubs’ then Belfast City Centre will effectively become a no go area for many disabled people.”
“Disability Action commented on the recommendations on the draft report a year ago and there has been little change to the report since then. This would lead us to ask why it has taken so long to publish this report and why the Departments have not committed to taking any significant recommendations forward.”
“I would ask the Departments to publish a full detailed plan of how the recommendations in the report are to be taken forward and what they will do to ensure that disabled people are able to access Belfast City Centre now and in the future.”
A copy of the report is available from http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/bccrd-access-and-mobility-study.htm
