.
MINUTES FOR THE MEETING ON 7TH NOVEMBER 2019 IN THOMAS HERD HOUSE,
WARD ROAD, DUNDEE.
APOLOGIES: Lynda Sawers,
Denis Bethell.
1. INVITED GUEST: John Whyman,
Outdoor Access Officer, Dundee City Council.
John said they been
contacted by a Broughty Ferry councillor asking about providing wheelchair
access to Broughty Ferry beach. To ascertain support for this they have set up a presentation from The Hamish Foundation who
run the St Andrews Beach Wheelchair project. This will be on 26th November at
11:45 in Dundee House and they are hoping to bring together to the presentation
as many interested people as possible. A
critical part of the project will be to find a group and/or volunteers to
manage the project. The other projects in Scotland operate with volunteers and some
seasonal support staff who need to be funded. Dundee Access Group are invited
to this meeting.
2. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes
of the meeting held on 3rd October 2019 were approved.
3.
MATTERS ARISING:
3.1.
(Re Minute 2.1). Parking on Perth Road. Gopal Narayanan, Dundee Council Traffic Section, thought
there was no point in him meeting with Lynda and Carole as they couldn’t
provide more disabled spaces and blue badge holders could park on double yellow
lines. The problem for wheelchair users with that is not being able to get on
to the pavement. It was suggested that it might be possible to identify a place
where a dropped kerb would solve the problem. Carole and Lynda will discuss
this and, if they could do so, send in a request via Dorothy.
3.2.
(Re Minute 2.2). Parking at the
V&A. We were happy with the
suggestions the V&A had made. Anne will write to them.
3.3.
(Re Minute 2.6). Doors to shops in
Perth Road. The owner of the
butcher’s has installed a bell and put up a sticker to tell customers to use
the bell if the need to. He also said he might consider buying a ramp for his
shop and we are arranging for a ramp rep to visit his shop and give him advice.
Lynda
also had a chat with the
sales assistant at Goodfellow &
Steven with regards to a bell and gave her her email to
pass on to the MD of the company. So far, the person hasn't been in
touch. Lynda also gave a sticker to Roseangle Community
Kitchen, who were hoping to have a bell up and running as soon as they could.
We noted that
Lynda was doing a great job making Perth Road wheelchair friendly, and it was
suggested we consider other areas of Dundee. Anne will contact the Boomerang
Centre and the Stobswell Forum to ask if they were
experiencing any access issues that we might be able to help with.
3.4.
(Re
Minute 5.2). Dundee Transport Forum. Jan noted the following at meeting on 4th
October
·
Agreed
to meet 4 times pa. Subgroups as required.
·
The
Transport Co-ordinator of NHST could be invited. (No one from NHST was
present).
·
John
Berry & Nadine Law have attended NHST working groups on transport. One is
called Patient Travel/Access. Others are
Volunteer Services and Public Transport. Nicola Mitchell will try to establish
contact for the Forum.
·
The
Transport Bill (2018) (now the Act) was discussed.
·
The
National Transport Strategy Consultation closes on 23rd October. Nicola, Jan G
& David Gardener from DVA to draft a response from the Forum. Community
Transport mentioned 4 times, but no commitment to develop its potential.
·
The
Blether Bus is underused. Mark Devine is to up the marketing. This could be
subject of a Forum subgroup.
·
DCC
still has underused education runs minibuses. Ideas wanted BUT the drivers are
only paid until 4pm. David (DVA) suggested family trips in school holidays.
Nicola pointed out there is unmet need after three and in evenings.
·
A
Parish Nurse from the Steeple handed out new maps of Dundee Recovery Services
and said transport is a big barrier.
4. OTHER AGENDA ITEMS
4.1. Treasurer’s report. Sandy reported
that he was going to claim from Disability Equality Scotland for the money paid
to DBPSS and for He also said that our bank balance is healthy
and he encourages our members who travel to any meetings associated with Dundee
Access Group to be sure to claim any expenses they incur.
4.2. Xxxx
5. CORRESPONDENCE:
By email
5.1
The ALLIANCE
weekly Bulletins.
5.2
Inclusion
Scotland E-Bulletins.
5.3
Dundee Third
Sector Interface Newsletters.
5.4
On
3/10/19 from the Health and Social Care ALLIANCE
Scotland sending invitation to a free
event on 18th October, at the Dundee Science Centre with
activities, talks and workshops for everyone to experience how digital
technology could support their health and wellbeing.
5.5
On
4/10/19 from SYSTRA sending a consultation to help Dundee City Council to develop proposals for a Low Emission Zone (LEZ)
for the city.
5.6
On
4/10/19 from Joanna Mawdsley re disabled parking
for the V&A.
5.7
On
10/10/19 from Caley McDowall, SYSTRA, re Broughty
Ferry active travel improvements.
5.8
On
14/10/19 from Rachael Higgins, Dundee Council sending info re Finlathen play area proposals and asking us to
comment.
Carole & Lynda will visit.
5.9
On
14/10/19 from DVA telling us about Luminate,
Scotland’s creative ageing organisation and inviting us to a focus group.
5.10
On
15/10/19 from Field Consulting re briefing
prepared by Network Rail and Train Operating Companies regarding upcoming
engineering works on the East Coast Main Line and the impact they will have on
passengers.
5.11
On
16/10/19 from Inclusion Scotland inviting us to their AGM & Conference on Wednesday 30 October in Dundee.
5.12
On
18/10/19 an Invitation to LNER 2019 Annual Stakeholder
Conference on Tuesday 19th November in York.
5.13
On
22/10/19 from Disability Equality Scotland who
are working in partnership with the Scottish Ambulance Service to host an event
in Falkirk on 4th November about access to patient transport.
5.14
On 23/10/19
an invitation to an event in Dundee on 4th Nov that will explore the interaction between
disability and climate change through the medium of virtual reality art.
5.15
On
23/10/19 from CILPK who are supporting
Stagecoach to host an Open Day on Wednesday 13th November at the South Inch Car
Park, Perth where they will have various different buses on show for wheelchair
and scooter users to try out and ask questions about.
5.16
On
31/10/19 from DES sending their Annual General
Meeting 2019 Draft Minutes.
5.17
On 31/10/19
from Carole Craig sending article - Scotland
becomes first UK nation to ban pavement parking.
We were dismayed
to here that it would not come into effect for 18 months.
6. A.O.B.
6.1
Carole and Hannah visited Starbucks
in the Overgate and found it impossible to use their disabled toilet. Carole
will write to the management about it.
6.2
Carole wanted to remind everyone that
Shopmobility, as well as lending out mobility scooters, also lend out both
power and manual wheelchairs.
6.3
Carole had visited the Tail End
Restaurant again and found that chairs were being stored in the wheelchair
refuge area. She will write to their management about it.
6.4
We were asked by Heart Space Yoga for
advice as they are refurbishing their
premises and relocating the main door. Their plans had stairs which they
thought should be changed to a ramp. At the site visit Carole suggested a platform
lift might be installed instead.
7. DATE OF NEXT MEETING.
The date of the next meeting is Thursday 5th
December 2019.