Item 12.3 - Attachment 1

Access Advisory Committee Minutes 16 June 2009

 

MINUTES OF THE ACCESS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN MEETING ROOMS 1 & 2, GROUND FLOOR, COUNCIL CHAMBER BUILDING, CIVIC PLACE, PARRAMATTA ON TUESDAY, 16 June 2009, COMMENCING AT 5.35PM.

 

PRESENT

 

John Moxon in the Chair, Debbie Manuel, Jim Grainda, Phillip Cornwall, Leone Clarke, Barbara Jones and Peter Simpson.

 

IN ATTENDANCE

 

Donna Mosford – Community Capacity Building Officer, and Joy Bramham – Administration Officer.

 

1. WELCOME

The Chairperson, John Moxon, welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for attending.

 

2. APOLOGIES

An apology was received and accepted for the absence of Chris McAlpine – Community Place Development Officer, Parramatta Council.

 

 

3. CONFLICT OF INTEREST DECLARATION

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

 

4. MINUTES

A copy of the Minutes of the Access Advisory Committee meeting held on 21 April 2009 had previously been forwarded to each member.

 

RESOLUTION           (Debbie Manuel/Jim Grainda)

 

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Access Advisory Committee held on 21 April 2009 be taken as read and confirmed.

 

5. BUSINESS ARISING

 

5.1 Council Advisory Committee Expressions of Interest (EoI)

Donna Mosford distributed a draft Access Committee Expression of Interest document that will be going to the 22 June 2009 Council Meeting for ratification. The Committee noted that the EoI is open to people who live, work or study in the Parramatta Local Government Area (LGA) but pointed out that the LGA needs to be accessible to the public in general, even if they did not live work or study in the area.            

5.2 ‘You’re Welcome’ Project

Donna Mosford tabled the report detailing access issues associated with Dundas and Telopea railway stations. The report was written by John Evernden, consultant to the ‘You’re Welcome’, funded by the Western Sydney Area Assistance Scheme (WSAAS). The Committee asked for the report to be sent out via email so that recommendations can be further discussed at the next Access Committee meeting on 18 August 2009.

 

ACTION: Joy Bramham to email or send a hardcopy of the Report and photographs to Committee members.

 

5.3 Bus Shelter Audit

Donna Mosford contacted the Senior Project Officer – Transport Planning regarding an updated on the Bus Shelter Audit. Excerpts from the email received in response are detailed below:

 

“Over 830 bus stops have been audit which took 9 months to complete. The data collected needs to be reviewed and prioritised with the aim to improve bus stop passenger areas and comply with the DDA requirements.  It is anticipated that the bus stops on the strategic bus corridors will be given a high priority as these represent the key bus routes across Sydney.

 

It is anticipated that the Bus Stop Access Program will commence in 2009/10, initially tie-in with the existing PAMP (Pedestrian Access and Mobility Programme - construction of new footpaths), as bus stops need to be connected to the pedestrian footpath network, until a specific funding source can be established.  Council has applied to the Federal Gov's Jobs Fund for $100k over 2 years to fund some of the works.”

 

John Moxon asked that the Committee be involved in further discussions related to the Bus Stop Audit as the expertise of members could feed into this planning process.

 

ACTION: Donna Mosford to speak with the Senior Project Officer – Transport Planning to discuss involving the Access Committee in planning related to the Bus Stop Access Program.

 

5.4 After Hours Bell at Council Chambers

Donna Mosford has spoken to the Service Manager –Trades and Buildings, and was informed that the after hours bell would be fixed within the next 6 weeks. The Committee advised that rooms within the Council Chambers building are not clearly identified on door buzzers, and asked that signage be addressed as it is particularly difficult for people with a visual impairment to read the current script.

 

ACTION:  Donna Mosford to contact the Service Manager – Trades and Buildings to discuss enhancing the signage at the entrance to Council Chambers.

 

5.5 Hearing augmentation in Town Hall

Donna Mosford was previously advised that a portable hearing loop is available for use in the Town Hall. However, the Service Manager - Recreation Facilities and Programs recently advised that the only room with a functioning hearing augmentation was meeting room B on the 2nd floor of Council Chambers. The Committee agreed that a hearing loop is often necessary for people with a hearing impairment to participate in public life and should be provided wherever possible.

 

ACTION:  Donna Mosford to contact the Service Manager – Recreation Facilities and Programs to discuss:

1. the possibility of auditing Council facilities for hearing augmentation systems, and;

2.  the possibility of installing hearing augmentation systems in Council-owned public meeting venues, particularly Town Hall and Council Chambers. 

 

5.6 Carpet at Westfield Parramatta

Donna Mosford advised that this issue would no longer be pursued as Council Advisory Committees function to advise Council on Council related issues and not to advocate on behalf of other organisations.

 

5.7  Disability Car Parking in Parramatta CBD

Donna Mosford spoke with the Service Manager - Traffic and Transport and was informed that four (4) new disabled parking spaces with no time limit were approved for the car park in Macquarie Lane, east of the Roxy nightclub. These spaces should be available within the next 6 weeks.

 

5.8  Bus Stop at Lennox Bridge

In relation to safety concerns at the Lennox Bridge bus stop, Donna Mosford reiterated the information she received in October 2008 advising that Westbus could not relocate the bus stop because the concrete plinth for the stop could not be installed on the bridge. In May 2008, Parramatta Traffic Committee approved the extension of the bus zone by 14.5m in the northerly direction so that 2 buses can be accommodated at that location. Council has since been advised that the extension of the bus zone has improved safety in the area.


A member of the Committee advised that Council’s course of action had greatly improved the line of site for approaching buses.

 

5.9  David Powell

Donna Mosford advised that she had attempted to contact David Powell a number of times by both telephone and email and that she had not had a response. The Committee agreed that no further time should be spent on attempting to contact David.

 

6. GENERAL BUSINESS

 

6.1 Parking Permits

John Moxon advised the Committee about a new federal government scheme for disability parking. The discussion paper can be found at http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/disability/progserv/people/disability_parking_scheme/parking_scheme_discussion_paper/Documents/disability_parking_scheme/parking_scheme_discussion_paper.PDF He advised that there was going to be a forum to discuss the proposed new legislation on Friday, 19 June 2009 at Northcott from 6pm-8pm. He commented that this meeting had not been well advertised.

 

The Committee questioned whether metered parking would still apply to disability parking given the difficulties many people with a disability experience attempting to access parking meters, especially when having to negotiate curbs.

 

ACTION: Joy Bramham to send out a copy of the discussion paper to Committee members.

 

6.2 Draft Access to Premises standards

The draft Access to Premises Standards report was released on Monday 15 June 2009. The draft Standards had approximately 161 submissions and included numerous recommendations. The Standards will now be redrafted before being presented to the legislative assembly for ratification. 

 

6.3 Western Sydney Public Transport

A public transport meeting will be held at Granville Youth Recreation and Community Centre on Saturday 20 June 2009, 10am – 4pm. RSVPs are essential and can be done online or by phone.

 

6.4 International Day of People With a Disability (IDPWD)

Donna Mosford advised that an International Day of People With a Disability (IDPWD) working party meeting will be held on Tuesday 7 July 2009 at 3.30pm in the Level 7 meeting room, 30 Darcy Street. Chris McAlpine will convene the working party.

 

 

NEXT MEETING

 

Access Advisory Committee Meeting

Tuesday, 18 August 2009, 5:30pm

Rooms 1 & 2 Ground Floor Meeting Room

Council Chambers Building

Civic Place, Parramatta

 

 

The meeting concluded at 7.15 pm