Item 10.2 - Attachment 1

Access Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes 21 February 2012

 

 

MINUTES OF THE ACCESS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN MEETING ROOMS 1 & 2, GROUND FLOOR, COUNCIL CHAMBER BUILDING, CIVIC PLACE, PARRAMATTA ON TUESDAY, 21 FEBRUARY 2012, COMMENCING AT 5.31PM.

 

PRESENT

 

Mr John Moxon in the Chair, Leonie Clarke, Joe Dimech, Jim Grainda, Debbie Manuel, Hamish Murray, Peter Simpson, and Duy Quang Nguyen.

 

IN ATTENDANCE

 

Joy Bramham (Minute Clerk), Elizabeth Collins - Community Services Team Leader, Jayne Boardman - Project Officer, Social Outcomes, and Tanya Owen – Community Capacity Building Officer

 

1.         WELCOME

 

John Moxon welcomed everyone to the Access Committee.

 

2.        ACKOWLEDGEMENT OF TRADITIONAL OWNERS

 

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

 

3.         APOLOGIES

 

Councillor Andrew Bide tendered his apologies.

 

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 20 December 2011 had previously been forwarded to each member.

                                                                                                                                 

RESOLUTION          (Grainda/Clarke)      

 

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Access Advisory Committee held on 20 December 2011 be taken as read and confirmed as a true record of the meeting.

 

6.         ELECTION OF CHAIR

 

Tanya Owen called for nominations for the position of Chair Person.

 

The nominations received for Chairperson, in alphabetical order, were:-

 

(1)       John Moxon

 

There being no further nominations, Tanya Owen declared John Moxon duly elected as Chair Person for the next 12 Months.

 

Tanya Owen called for nominations for the position of Deputy Chair Person.

 

The nominations received for Chairperson, in alphabetical order, were:-

 

(1)       Hamish Murray 

 

There being no further nominations, Tanya Owen declared Hamish Murray duly elected as Chair Person for the next 12 Months

 

 

7          ACCESS AND EQUITY POLICY

Jayne Boardman noted that the draft Access and Equity Policy needs to be finalised and will be distributed to Committee members for comment next week. Jayne asked if feedback and case stories (positive) could be submitted to Jayne by 1 March 2012. 

The policy will provide guiding principles for Council, not detail on how this will be implemented.

 

The Committee expressed concern regarding statistics coming from census data, and how this data was presented. The Census provided data for only those needing acute care and therefore excludes people who do not need careers, but whose disability still impacts on their lives and access to facilities, including those in wheelchairs or with hearing or visual disabilities. Therefore, that data is not representative of all those needing to be taken into consideration in Council planning and policy. The Committee suggested that The Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: 2009 may be more representative of disability across the community and may be available broken down by electoral division.

 

The Committee also expressed concern regarding comparisons of groups within Parramatta to other LGA or State levels, which could lead to the impression that because  a demographic group size in Parramatta was smaller than another area’s, there was less need to take the group into consideration. The Committee also noted that it is more than the person with the disability that is affected by Access, but also people who are with the person with a disability, including families, friends and colleagues who travel, work and socialise with them.

 

Jayne noted the concerns raised, and told the Committee she will continue to seek more accurate data that is relevant to the Parramatta LGA.

 

8          BUSINESS ARISING

8.1 Meeting with Library

The Committee met with Debbie Best, Service Manager - Library Network, regarding the new returns chute and new signage. Identified issues were taken on board regarding the new chutes, however changes cannot now be made in the current building. New signage will be put up, incorporating suggested changes by the Committee.

 

8.2 Meeting with Mario Trifiro, Team Leader - Certification

The Committee expressed some concern that once a building has reached certification stage, it is too late to make changes. Tanya Owen explained that Mario Trifiro also assisted in providing advice for renovation and improvement within Council on Council properties.

 

Mario Trifiro suggested training for other units that should know about access issues not just technical specifications - the human stories and the ‘why’ behind the specifications. Tanya Owen, Mario Trifiro and Anne-Marijke Gerretsen, Learning and Development - Human Resources, will be meeting to discuss Council training needs.

 

8.3 Follow up on 2011 information on Station Upgrades

The Committee asked that a letter form Council be sent regarding an update on the schedule for station upgrades, specifically for Clyde, as well as Wentworthville stations.

 

The Committee also noted that the S8 Bus between Wentworthville Station and Constitution Hill travels via the retirement village, and as such Wentworthville station should be given priority in the schedule of station access upgrades because of Access needs of residents in the retirement village. 

 

8.4 Update on Accessible Keyboards

Leonie Clarke noted that she had approached Jane MacKey from the Over 55’s Learning and Leisure Service prior to bringing the matter to the Committee.

The Committee received correspondence from Jane Mackey informing the Committee that both colour schemes for large keyboards are to be ordered. 

 

 

9        GENERAL BUSINESS

9.1 ParraConnect

At the most recent ParraConnect meeting, John Moxon spoke to the letter sent from the Access Committee. The ParraConnect Committee noted the issued raised and will form sub-committees on an ad-hoc basis that can consult directly with the Access Committee. 

 

9.2 New Members

The Committee noted the need to recruit new members and the opportunity with the upcoming Council election where all Committees are dissolved and reformed with an EOI process. Word of mouth through networks would be the most effective way to promote the Committee, where appropriate people are encouraged to submit an EOI.

 

NEXT MEETING

17 April 2012 at 5:30pm

Meeting Rooms 1 & 2

Council Chambers Building 

 

 

 Closed 6.46pm