Item 10.1 - Attachment 1

Access Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes 17 August 2010

MINUTES OF THE ACCESS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN MEETING ROOMS 1 & 2, GROUND FLOOR, COUNCIL CHAMBER BUILDING, CIVIC PLACE, PARRAMATTA ON TUESDAY 17 AUGUST 2010, COMMENCING AT 5.33PM.

PRESENT

Leonie Clarke, Jim Grainda, Barbara Jones, Debbie Manuel, John Moxon, Duy Quang Nguyen and Peter Simpson

IN ATTENDANCE

Councillor Andrew Bide, Tanya Owen – Community Capacity Building Officer, Kati Westlake (Senior Project Officer-Urban Design), Elisabeth Collins (Community Services Team Leader, Home Support and Community Services) and Joy Bramham – Administration Officer.

1. WELCOME

John Moxon welcomed everyone to the Access Committee.

2. ACKOWLEDGEMENT OF TRADITIONAL OWNERS

John Moxon acknowledged the Burramatugal Clan of The Darug, the traditional land owners of Parramatta and paid respect to the elders both past and present.

3. APOLOGIES

There were no apologies for the meeting.

4. CONFLICT OF INTEREST DECLARATION

There were no declarations made regarding conflict of interest at this meeting.

5. CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES

A copy of the Minutes of the Access Advisory Committee meeting held on 22 June 2010 had previously been forwarded to each member.

RESOLUTION

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Access Advisory Committee held on 22 June be taken as read and confirmed with “Northcote” in item 7 being changed to “Northcott”.

6. BUSINES ARISING

6.1 Kati Westlake, report back on Review of Public Domain Details for Disability Access

Kati Westlake said that Eric Martin was the consultant hired to conduct an access review of Parramatta as part of the Urban Design Team’s review of standards for footpath, bush shelters, parks etc. The Urban Design Team currently have technical design drawings, but they are not up to Australian standards and that this was to be reviewed as part of the overall review of the city centre design.

Due to staff issues progress has not been as fast as anticipated, however the Urban Design team have a new project timeline and the design documentation introduction to access and public space should be finalised by the end of year. As part of this there have been surveys on access, street lighting consultation and water sensitivity studies conducted that will be part of the guidelines for the city centre

The documents are currently being complied and will consist of a general introduction to access issues, the idea and complexities surrounding access, the standards that must be followed etc. with both writing and diagrams. It will need to have comments from several different Council units including the Urban Design Team, the Depot, Traffic and Transport, and the RTA and utilities companies as well as the Access Advisory Committee.

The current codes and standards are confusing as the new standards for access to premise do not include footpaths and public areas. The DDA does not have an actual standard, but states that there should not be any discrimination. Because of this, the RTA and Council have slightly differing procedures and codes and further expert advice is still required, especially as different disabilities have different access needs.

John Moxon stated that the Human Rights Commission has put together guidelines for dealing with access related complaints and asked if Council has also looked at and integrated these into the proposed document. Kati Westlake advised that she had not looked at these guidelines. John Moxon advised that the Commission is currently asking for comment and that a response from Council could be beneficial.

Councillor Andrew Bide stated that he was pleased with the work done by Council Officers on the drafting of the new standards and that he hoped that these Parramatta standards could become a benchmark for other Councils. He also noted that the Chamber relies on Advisory Committees to make recommendations in its areas of specialty so that Council obtains the best product.

Kati Westlake advised that it would probably be 4-5 weeks to have a draft document prepared for the Access Committee to look at. When this is ready, an A4 PDF version will be emailed to Tanya Owen who will distribute this to the Committee. Committee members will be invited to a sub-committee meeting to discuss the document 1-2 weeks after it has been distributed, though preferably before the next Access Advisory Committee meeting.

Actions:

1. Tanya Owen will follow up with Kati Westlake in a month to ascertain if/when a draft document is ready to be distributed.

2. Kati Westlake to email a draft document to Tanya Owen .

3. Tanya Owen to distribute copies to Committee members (note: Leonie Clarke would like an A3 copy).

4. Tanya Owen to arrange a sub-committee meeting for discussion of the document, allowing at least a week for review of the documents.

6.2 Final update on Evac Chairs

Tanya Owen had another meeting with Roy Gumkowski – (Occupation Health and Safety Service Unit) regarding a supplier recommended model, risk assessment information provided by a supplier, and costs of the model. This information, has also been provided to the Civic Development Team for appropriate action.

Beth Collins stated that Council procedure requires that a staff member who works in the Chambers building with a vision impairment wait on a stairwell landing in the fire escape during an emergency. Beth stated that she would provide information to the Committee on the procedure.

Action: Tanya Owen to provide a copy of all information given to management to the Access Committee.

6.3 Update on corner of Crown and Harris Streets

Tanya Owen circulated copies of the report and recommendations from Vision Australia as requested by the Committee, including to Kati Westlake and the Traffic and Transport department with highlighted recommendations.

Tanya has spoken with Saniya Sharmeen (Senior Traffic & Transport Engineer). The recommendation has not yet gone to the Traffic Committee. There needs to be a recount of traffic usage which is currently being conducted, to ascertain if traffic meets RTA criteria for the crossing suggested. Special consideration for seniors and school children is made within traffic counts. Tanya will report back on this to the Committee at the next meeting of the Committee.

The Access Committee noted that the day the count is taken can influence how many people use the crossing, for example, pension days will have a higher volume of pedestrian traffic.

Action: Tanya Owen to distribute copies of the Vision Australia report to the Access Committee.

6.4 Pennant Hills Road Crossing

Barbara Jones asked that the recommendation from the meeting of 22 June 2010 in regard to the crossing of Pennant Hills Road to access the remaining bus stop be more strongly worded with requests for action.

A crossing should be located on Pennant Hills Road on the South side of the Bellevue Street intersection, near where the bus stop is located on Pennant Hills Road. The RTA will need to permit the installation of either a crossing or a refuge. This will depend on a traffic count. The Traffic and Transport unit at Council will carry out the traffic count and if the necessary numbers are achieved, then a report will go to the Traffic Engineering Advisory Group and the Parramatta Traffic Committee. Their recommendations are then taken to Council to be endorsed.

Council Officers noted that members of the Committee could put in a service request on any pavements that are potential trip hazards. Councillor Bide suggested the Committee as a whole could put in a Service Request. During the meeting Councillor Bide put in a Councillor Service Request in relation the trip hazard on Bellevue Street.

Recommendation:

(a) That a pedestrian crossing at Pennant Hills Road near Bellevue Street be constructed on the South side of intersection, to provide a safe crossing for local residents needing to use the bus stop.

(b) Further that it be noted that Bellevue Street near this intersection is a trip hazard due to uneven pavements and inadequate lighting and that this be rectified as a matter of urgency, and support Councillor Bide’s Service Request to address this.

6.5 Westfield Interchange, report back from Barbara Jones

Barbara Jones stated that she has been told several different things by people at Westfield in relation to shopping trolleys and Westfield, but has been able to take her trolley to the bus interchange without problems since this issue was raised.

6.6 IDPwD – Update on Employer Lunch

Tanya Owen updated the Committee on the Employer Lunch that is being organised by a committee of Disability Employment Services in the LGA. The proposed lunch should be taking place on the 19 November 2010 and it is intended to have 5 speakers - two employed people with disabilities, and two employers who employee people with disabilities, and an employment support service to provide information around how to start conversations around disabilities and the kinds of support available to employers.

The lunch is in response to the need identified by members of the IDPwD planning committee to address employer attitudes towards employing people with disabilities, and answer questions that many find difficult to ask about employing people with disabilities.

The planning committee hopes to involve 8-12 employment agencies and have about 60 people attend the lunch including CEO’s and HR managers.

6.6 Update on Integrated Transport Plan

The Integrated Transport Plan was adopted by Council in May this year and both the full document and a summary are now available from Council’s website.

7. CORRESPONDENCE IN

· Australia Day Application for Duy Quang Nguyen

· Guide Dog Client Survey

8. GENERAL BUSINESS

8.1 Update on NSW Community Building Partnership Grants Scheme

At the meeting on 16 February 2010 the Committee prioritised a list of projects. The full amount of the grant requested was not received, and as such, works to be completed have been selected from the top of the list of priorities . Council received less than half the grant requested, but will be matching this funding to complete the selected works.

8.2 Report back on seminar on new Access to Premises standards

Tanya Owen updated the Committee on a seminar that she attended regarding the proposed new Access to Premises Standards that are likely to be adopted within the next 1.5 years. It is more than likely to affect such buildings as the new Civic Place, and requires that an accessible toilet be constructed on each floor for any building with more than 2 floors. For up to two floors only, the size of the floor determines this requirement.

8.3 Western Sydney Public Transport Users

Barbara Jones informed the Committee that another forum for Western Sydney Public Transport Users (WSPTU) had been held and that the organisation was interested in recruiting members.

Action: Tanya Owen to forward information on the WSPTU provided by Barbara Jones to all Committee members.

8.4 Invite to Hamish Murray

Due to a misunderstanding over who would extend the invitation, Hamish Murray did not get invited to this evening’s Committee meeting. An invitation will be sent for the next Access Advisory meeting.

NEXT MEETING

5:30pm 19 October 2010

Meeting Rooms 1 & 2

Council Chambers Building

The meeting concluded at 6.58pm