DUNDEE ACCESS GROUP

MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 1ST NOVEMBER 2018 IN THOMAS HERD HOUSE, WARD ROAD, DUNDEE.

 

 

PRESENT:  Erik Cramb, Anne Farrow, Lillian Malcolm, Dorothy Wilson, Carole Craig, Jan Goodall, John Mitchell, Tracey Clark, Michael Leeland, Heather Flood.

APOLOGIES:  Denis Bethell, Bill Varney, Sandy Cameron, Denise Cameron.

1.     MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING:

 

The minutes of the meeting held on 4th October 2018 were approved.

 

2.       MATTERS ARISING:

 

2.1.          (Re minutes 2.1). Sarah Craig, Dundee Council, replied to the comments from Dundee Access Group and will pass them on to the outdoor concert promoters, LHG, who is tasked with organising the events in Slessor Gardens. Sarah will try to arrange a meeting of the promoter with members of the Access Group who have attended concerts.

 

2.2.          (Re minute 2.2). Sandy had our poster printed and copies were handed out to those present to place in a variety of places throughout Dundee. Christine will continue with the Facebook page.

 

2.3.          (Re minute 3.1).  Treasurer’s Report.  Sandy reported that he had had 200 copies of the poster printed and reminded us that we still have leaflets left from before. He also reported that Disability Equality Scotland have now agreed to reimburse us for the accounts we have paid and the money we paid to Dundee Blind and Partially Sighted Society for ‘rent’.

 

3         OTHER AGENDA ITEMS:

 

3.1            Jan Goodall attended a consultation on the Scottish National Transport Strategy Review. This was held in Dundee 0n 4th October. Two people from Transport Scotland introduced the topic. Small groups at round tables were then invited to discuss the question: “How might our future transport system fully account for the needs of older people?” Jan did not find this helpful. She had pointed out that although it is good to make public transport as accessible as possible, this approach downplays the needs of disabled people who need affordable door-to-door transport to reach mainstream services.

 

There is a similar problem with Scotland’s Accessible Travel Framework which has the ambition that “All disabled people can travel with the same freedom, choice, dignity and opportunity as other citizens.” The Equality & Human Rights Commission’s 2018 paper ‘Is Scotland Fairer’ found that “Lack of access to affordable transport options negatively affected access to other essential services and employment.”

 

Jan regretted the closure of George Scullion’s Easy On minibus service which had offered £5 journeys to Dundee hospitals and some city centre stops. She wondered if it could have attracted funding as a Social Enterprise.

The City Council’s two “Blether Bus routes were proving popular, with some people using them to enjoy a blether.

 Jan also told us that there is now a 360 bus which does a 20-minute loop of the city centre and connects the bus station, city quay, train station, Nethergate and McManus. It operates from 9.00 to 5.00, 7 days a week.

 

3.2            Lillian Malcolm and Tracey Clark told us about the meeting they had attended about ‘The Planning System in Scotland’ which was run for Access Group members to encourage them to get involved in planning in their areas and check that accessibility is always considered.

 

4         CORRESPONDENCE:

 

By email

 

4.1             The Disability Equality Scotland Newsletters.

 

4.2            The ALLIANCE Weekly Bulletins.

 

4.3            Inclusion Scotland E-bulletins.

 

4.4            Communications from DVA.

 

4.5            On 1/10/18 from Alliance Scotland with info re ‘Discover Digital: for your health and wellbeing’ a new awareness initiative in Dundee on 21 October.

 

Tracey will attend.

 

4.6            On 8/10/18 from Lynsey Penny asking advice about the access to Dundee Community Fridge which is being sited in Perth Road.

 

Carole has been giving Lynsey advice.

 

4.7            On 9/10/18 re Living Streets Scotland offering a free half-day workshop in Dundee for people who would like to explore approaches to making streets inclusive and accessible for local communities.

 

Tracey & Carole will attend.

 

4.8            On 10/10/18 from CILPK asking for info about accessible holidays.

 

4.9            On 15/10/18 from AccessAble (previously DisabledGo) inviting us to their Scottish launch in Glasgow.

 

4.10        On 17/10/18 from Edward Bateman, Thornton’s Law, asking for advice about making their Arbroath premises more wheelchair accessible.

 

Anne, with the help of Dorothy, has been giving advice.

 

4.11        On 18/10/18 from DES re the launch of their Disability Safety Hub, a website for disabled people.

 

4.12        On 19/10/18 from Dundee Third Sector Interface looking for representatives to assess applications to the Integrated Care Small Grants Fund.

 

4.13        On 24/10/16 from AccessAble inviting members of DAG to an AccessAble workshop.

 

4.14        On 26/10/18 from DES sending a link to the new Make Scotland Fairer October 2018 report.

 

4.15        On 27/10/18 from Sam, the Community Champion in Asda Kirkton, asking if we can help improve the shopping experience for people with disabilities.

 

Carole has suggested senior pupils from Kingspark School might be able to help.

 

4.16        On 26/10/18 Dundee Third Sector Interface sending their latest E-Bulletin.

 

4.17        On 29/10/18 via Dorothy Wilson update on Slessor Gardens accessibility provision.

 

4.18        On 30/10/18 from Michael Leeland, Oovirt, sending Claire D’All’s access review of concert at Slessor Gardens.

 

 

5         A.O.B.

 

5.1            Carole had been asked this morning to pass on information about The Dundee Northern Links Project. They are keen that a member of our Access Group should be involved and would like a name by 7th November.

 

5.2            Carole said that she and Hannah had visited and assessed the accessibility of the Tailend Restaurant in the Nethergate at the request of the Council’s Planning department.

 

5.3            Dorothy said that the Regional Performance Centre for Sport at the Caird Park was progressing well. To showcase progress on site and community activity Balfour Beatty have an e-newsletter for the project.  Visitors to Caird Park can access it by scanning a QR code which is displayed on large posters around the site or by using this link   https://spark.adobe.com/page/mlIdItwAvDzwG/

This will be updated regularly (every 2 to 4 weeks).

 

5.4            Michael said that all the comments he had heard about the accessibility of the new V&A were positive however he thought the on-line accessibility information provided could be better. He was discussing this with the V&A.

 

5.5            Heather said that she had heard that the lift inside T J Hughes in the Wellgate wasn’t available for customers to use. They expect it will be repaired and available for use in about 2 weeks.

 

 

6     DATE OF NEXT MEETING.

 

The date of the next meeting is at 12.45 on Thursday 6th December 2018 in Thomas Herd House, 10 - 12 Ward Road, Dundee, DD1 1LX.

 

 

                  web: www.dundeeaccessgroup.co.uk

e-mail: dundeeaccessgroup.org@hotmail.co.uk