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Item 11.2 - Attachment 1 |
Access Advisory Committee Minutes 210409 |
MINUTES OF THE ACCESS
ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN MEETING ROOMS 1 & 2, GROUND FLOOR,
PRESENT
John Moxon in the Chair,
Debbie Manuel, Jim Grainda, Phillip Cornwall and Peter Simpson.
IN ATTENDANCE
Donna Mosford – Community Capacity Building Officer, Chris McAlpine – Community Place
Development 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 Barbara Jones.
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 5 August
2008 had previously been forwarded to each member.
RESOLUTION (Debbie Manuel/Peter Simpson)
That the Minutes of the meeting
of the Access Advisory Committee held on 5 August 2008 be taken as read and
confirmed with the following changes that Debbie Manuel’s name was spelt
incorrectly throughout. It should read “Manuel” not “Manual”:-
5. DATES FOR 2009
The
Committee agreed to continue to meet on the first Tuesday of even numbered
months at 5:30pm. However, due to room
booking difficulties, it was agreed by the majority of Committee members to
reschedule meetings for the third Tuesday of even numbered months.
Confirmed
meeting dates for 2009 are therefore as follows
Tuesday 16 June 2009
Tuesday 18 August 2009
Tuesday 20 October 2009
Tuesday 15 December 2009
Joy Bramham has sent letters to all Committee members notifying
them of this change.
Chris
McAlpine will be unable to attend Tuesday night Advisory Committee meetings for
the time being due to other commitments. However, Chris will continue to work
with Donna to support initiatives of, and actions related to, the Access
Advisory Committee as required.
6. TERMS OF REFERENCE
Donna
read the 23 March 2009 Council resolution related to Advisory Committees:
“That Council retain the ATSI, Access, Arts, Cycleways and
Heritage Advisory Committees in their current form and Terms of Reference, and
their respective memberships reconfirmed through a public advertising and/or
consultation process.”
John Moxon reminded members that the Committee
was originally established to address physical access issues, and members
agreed that while this should be expanded to cover “disability related access
issues” associated with intellectual, sensory, aural, visual and psychological
challenges, the Committee should not be responsible for addressing other socially-based
access and equity issues such as language, cultural and gender barriers.
It was agreed that the current Terms of
Reference (ToR) would be reviewed once Committee membership is confirmed
following completion of the Expressions of Interest (EOI) process. It was suggested
that the new ToR are written to clearly emphasize the Committee’s focus on the
aforementioned access issues.
6.1 The
Access Committee’s future role
The Committee spoke on the need for access
issues to become an integral part of Council planning processes and agreed that
relevant Council departments should utilise the Access Committee’s expertise in
planning and development processes.
Utilizing the Committees early on in the
planning process could ensure access issues are addressed before construction/development
occurs and result in significant financial savings and increased public respect
for Council.
6.2
Councillor and Council Staff involvement with the Access Committee
The Committee noted that Access Committees in
other Councils usually have participation from Councillors and Council staff.
The Committee would like to see increased involvement from across Council
departments, particularly senior staff who are able to embed physical access
principles in their work and team practices. Suggested departments include
Roads and Traffic, Open Space, Strategic Assets and Development.
As numerous Councillors were supportive of the
Access Committee presentation at the Advisory Committee Councillor Workshop,
and many acknowledged the importance of increased attendance, it is also assumed
that Councillors will attend meetings and support the Committee’s aims and
initiatives.
Further work to develop engagement strategies
will take place once the new Committee is confirmed.
6.3
Expressions of Interest (EOI)s
Committee membership will be expanded and
reconfirmed through a new, formal EOI process. As the EOI process is quite
lengthy, it is envisaged that the process will still be underway at the time of
the next Committee meeting.
The Committee commented that an information pack
for prospective members would need to be developed and that all background information
and the EOI form would need to be easy to understand and accessible through a
broad range of communication modes given the challenges some applicants may face.
John Moxon suggested that the Anti-discrimination Board or the Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) could advise on appropriate standards and
expectations. Donna Mosford stated that Community Capacity Building Staff would
be available to assist with applications i.e. reading, scribing, general
assistance where necessary.
As the Council resolution stated that current
membership would need to be reconfirmed through a public
advertising/consultation process, the Committee understood that they, too, would
need to submit EOIs if they wish to remain on the Committee.
ACTION:
Donna Mosford and Chris McAlpine to write Access Committee Background
Information and distribute to Committee members for feedback prior to
finalizing the Information Packs.
ACTION:
Donna Mosford and Chris McAlpine to assemble and distribute Information Packs
including EOIs through local press, disability groups, networks and current members
of the Committee.
7.
BUSINESS ARISING
7.1 You’re
Welcome Project
Donna Mosford advised that John Evernden has not
been in recent contact about the access audits he conducted at
ACTION: Donna Mosford to contact John Evernden to
request an update on the ‘You’re Welcome’ report.
7.2 Bus Stop
Audit
The Committee asked if the Bus Stop Audit that
Council has undertaken to determine how many bus stops in the Local Government
Area (LGA) are accessible, has been completed. The audit will clarify whether
or not Council meets the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 standards which
state that 25% of all bus stops in
the area need to be accessible by the end of 2007.
ACTION: Donna Mosford to request
an update on the Bus Stop Audit.
7.3 ‘The
Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ DVD - distribution
Donna Mosford advised that the Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC)’s, ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ DVD was
distributed through a database provided
by Council’s Development Team to contacts that the Team considered most
relevant in the pre-planning and planning process.
7.4 After
Hours access bell at
The Committee expressed it thanks that the bell
has been moved to a position within reach of people in wheelchairs. However,
members requested that the signage related to each of the buzzers is made
larger and written in a clearer script. Donna Mosford informed Committee
members about how to lodge Customer Service Requests to bring these issues to
the attention of the appropriate Council staff.
ACTION:
Donna Mosford to contact Building Maintenance to advise of the signage
difficulties and to request changes.
7.5
Hearing Augmentation in the Town Hall
The Committee asked whether hearing loops have
been installed in the Town Hall. Donna Mosford advised that there is a portable
hearing augmentation system in the Town Hall but not a fixed hearing loop
system. The Committee suggested that Council
take action to install hearing augmentation systems in the Town Hall in order
to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, so that people with
hearing loss can engage in functions held at the Town Hall.
ACTION:
Donna Mosford to investigate the current capacity of Town Hall to cater to
people with a hearing impairment.
7.6 Carpet
at
Donna Mosford advised that a letter from the
Service Manager,
ACTION: Donna to contact
7.7
Parking
The Committee acknowledged the addition of a
disability parking space in front of the Council Chambers, and requested
further information from Council about other changes to disability parking in
the LGA.
ACTION:
Donna Mosford to contact the appropriate Council Officer seeking advice about changes
to disability parking in the CBD especially in relation to:
a) The location of any new spaces allocated
b) Time limits on the spaces
c) The change in location of existing disability
spaces within the past 8 months
7.8
Customer Service Requests
At the August 2008 meeting it was mentioned that
the Committee would like to receive information about Council’s Customer
Service Requests regarding accessibility issues. It was suggested that details
about these requests would inform the Committee of broad community access
issues and this information could inform ongoing Committee business. However,
as the Committee is about to go through an EOI process and a review of the
Terms of Reference, it was suggested that further discussion about the how this
information may inform the work of the Committee should take place when the
Committee membership and focus is finalized.
7.9 Access
Committee meeting time
The Committee agreed to keep the meeting time at
5:30pm as some members are unable to attend earlier.
7.10 Bus
Stop south of
Donna Mosford advised that the bus stop has been
moved, however, exact details will need to be confirmed.
ACTION:
Donna Mosford to confirm the details of changes to the Bus Stop south of
8. GENERAL
BUSINESS
8.1 David
Powell
Donna Mosford will contact David Powell to
ascertain his interest in ongoing membership. It was noted that David’s wife
has been very unwell and the Committee had agreed to maintain his membership
regardless of his inability to attend meetings. David had been receiving
agendas and minutes until recently when his email address became inactive.
ACTION:
Donna Mosford to attempt to contact David Powell to ascertain his interest in
Committee membership.
8.2
Phillip Cornwall
Phillip Cornwall did not receive the email
notifying Committee members that the February 2009 Access Committee meeting was
cancelled. As Phillip came to Council for the meeting, Donna Mosford reimbursed
his disability taxi fare of $20.
8.3
Parramatta Cinema
Debbie Manuel advised the Committee that Greater
Union Cinema in
NEXT MEETING
Access Advisory Committee Meeting
Tuesday, 16 June 2009, 5:30pm
Rooms 1 & 2 Ground Floor Meeting Room
Civic Place,
The meeting concluded at 7.13 pm