.
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 6TH
FEBRUARY 2020 IN THOMAS HERD HOUSE, WARD
ROAD, DUNDEE.
PRESENT: Carole Craig, Anne Farrow, Sandy Cameron,
Denise Cameron, Lynda Sawers, Jan Goodall, Dorothy Wilson, Lillian Malcolm, John
Mitchell.
APOLOGIES: Denis Bethell, Erik Cramb, Bill Varney, Alison
Rae.
1. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING:
The minutes of the meeting held on 5th December 2019 were approved.
2.
MATTERS ARISING:
2.1.
(Re Minute 2.3). Access to the V&A. The solution that the V&A had
provided for those who found the entrance to the V&A entrance too far from
the disabled car parking spaces had still not been put on their Accessibility
page. Anne will write to them again.
It was suggested that Anne should also give
the information to AccessAble and to Euan’s Guide.
Anne said the map showing car parking spaces
linked to the V&A Accessibility page needed to be updated. She will send a
link to Dorothy.
2.2.
(Re Minute 2.4). Access to the butcher’s shop on Perth Road. Sandy will
ask Graham Angus to contact the butcher
and keep Lynda informed about what is happening.
2.3.
(Re Minute 2.5). Update to extending our project to make buildings
accessible in other areas of Dundee.
Dorothy had previously sent Anne a schedule of Local Community Planning
Partnerships meetings and Anne produced copies for the meeting. Carole and
Sandy thought that they could each go to one of the May meetings to let those
attending know what Dundee Access Group does and, in particular, what we have
been doing to make the Perth Road shops more accessible to wheelchair users.
2.4.
(Re Minute 2.6). Blether Bus. After
our last Dundee Access Group meeting there was an attempt made to give the
Blether Bus more publicity in the hope that it would be used more. However,
although the intentions to get the bus used are good, its introduction has been
badly executed. One problem is that a person
wishing to use it must hail it to get it to stop for them, but the bus is not
clearly identifiable, and people don’t see it coming. Because it is also used
as a school bus, it isn’t possible to have it clearly marked as ‘The Blether
Bus’. An article in Dundee’s Evening Telegraph said that there were complaints
that it was a poor replacement for the bus on the 204 route. However, people
have misunderstood its purpose, as it was never intended as a replacement for
that service. Mark Devine, Dundee
Council, is being kept informed of the problems associated with it.
2.5.
(Re Minute 2.7). Finlathan Play Area. Plans for the play area have been
circulated and include facilities for those with disabilities.
2.6.
(Re Minute 2.10). Heart Space Yoga.
Carole has said to the owner, Alan Lambie, that Dundee Access Group does
not approve of his new plans which make the entrance to the premise less
accessible to those with disabilities. He has not replied.
2.7.
(Re Minute 5.2). Carole has received an apology from the general manager
of the Doubletree Hilton after she complained that part of their festive craft
fair was held upstairs when there was no lift, and this hadn’t been mentioned when
the event was publicised. The manager said that their desire was to provide
access to all but they might not always be able to do so. They now accept that
when this is the case they should communicate so clearly.
3 OTHER AGENDA ITEMS:
3.1 Treasurer’s Report. Sandy has received the grant he claimed from DES. He also asked DES to improve their template which is used to claim grants and they have done it.
4 CORRESPONDENCE:
By email
4.1
ALLIANCE
weekly Bulletins.
4.2
Inclusion Scotland E-Bulletins.
4.3
Dundee Third Sector Interface
Newsletters.
4.4
Disability Living Newsletters.
4.5
DES Open Door magazine and Disability
Equality Newsletter.
4.6
On 2/12/19 from Age
Scotland sending their Housing Survey 2019.
4.7
On 4/12/19 from Age Scotland sending their online survey on Policing.
4.8
On 5/12/19 from Dorothy Wilson sending a link to info about all Dundee’s Local Community
Planning Partnerships and their last year's meetings schedule.
4.9
On 6/12/19 from Dorothy Wilson sending
details of ramp funding possibilities.
4.10
On 9/12/19 etc from Dorothy Wilson sending
communications about advertising the Blether Bus.
4.11
On 10/12/19 from Scotrail offering portable
ramps.
Sandy has requested 2 ramps which he is happy to store in his garage. They
will be delivered to Dundee Station.
4.12
On 16/12/19 from Dorothy Wilson sending Facebook post from Tayside Dynamos Powerchair Football
club on their use of RPC in Caird Park.
4.13
On 23/12/19 a questionnaire about Low
Emission Zones in cities.
4.14
On 15/1/20 from Carole Craig sending plans for
Finlathen Park play area.
4.15
On 20/1/20
from Age Scotland reminding us about what The V&A has to offer
including tours and workshops and for those
unable to visit the museum, there is the option of them coming out to visit and
they can bring a range of objects from their collections to share, discuss and
tell stories around.
4.16
On 27/1/20 from Age Concern sending an invitation
to a focus group in Edinburgh 0n 3rd February to give info to Transport Scotland which is working with the
Department for Transport and the Scottish Government to review current guidance
on what makes streets fully accessible for all.
4.17
On 27/1/20 from a Welsh campaigner sending a
survey about the Arts Council Arts Access Scheme.
5. A.O.B.
5.1
Carole
complained to Starbucks in the Overgate that the door of the disabled toilet could
not be shut when a wheelchair user went in. She had a reply from their customer
care manager who said that she had
checked with her construction team who confirmed that due to the close
proximity of the fire exit they gained a relaxation on the requirement for the
door to open outwards from the Scottish Warrant Office and they are not able to
change it and there is another disabled toilet inside the shopping centre.
5.2
Carole said that at the request
of Sam McCulloch she visited the North Carr lightship to give him advice about
what would be required to make it accessible to children with life-limiting
conditions.
5.3
Carole visited 158 Nethergate at the request of
Roddy Paul, J Paul Associates, to give advice on their planned alterations. They
were happy to take her suggestions on board.
5.4
After a visit to The Dome in
Edinburgh Carole complained to the general manager that they were kept waiting
to access the disabled toilet because a large number of staff were using it. She received a letter of apology thanking her
for her feedback and saying that unfortunately they do not have separate staff
toilets, but they would look to put a new procedure in place.
5.5
Carole has been consulted by the organisers of
Radio 1’s Big Weekend which will take place in Dundee on 22 - 24th
May 2020. They wanted advice on what needs
to be done to meet the needs of the people with disabilities who will attend. Carole suggested that they book the Pamiloo as
well as a disabled Portaloo for the event and recommended that they ask for
proof if someone claims to need a carer otherwise the area reserved for those
with disabilities becomes too congested.
5.6 Carole
said that she had expected that there would be a boccia court at the new Regional
Performance Centre for Sport but there wasn’t one. Dorothy said she would make
enquiries.
5.7 Linda
said that she had been speaking to someone who said that if we needed money for
a project, we should ask the Northwood Charitable Trust. Sandy said that he was
aware of the trust and that we would keep this in mind for future projects.
5.8 Jan has summarised the Mobility and
Access Committee for Scotland’s report on Transport for Health. See end of
minutes.
6 DATE OF
NEXT MEETING.
The date
of the next meeting is at 12.45 on Thursday 5th March 2020 in Thomas
Herd House, 10 - 12 Ward Road, Dundee, DD1 1LX.
web: www.dundeeaccessgroup.co.uk e-mail:dundeeaccessgroup.org@hotmail.co.uk
MOBILITY AND ACCESS COMMITTEE FOR SCOTLAND (MACS)
Report on Transport for Health
Published January 2020
Among the national Transport Strategy’s objectives
are: 1) Promote Equality and 4) Improve Health and Wellbeing.
The Macs report makes many recommendations
including:
a) The Scottish Government should review transport
services.
b) Transport should be built into the care pathway.
c) Organisations must engage in getting people to
their services (transport needs).
d) 1 organisation should take lead strategic responsibility
to ensure that transport for health is accessible, available and affordable for
all. (Integrated Joint Boards suggested).
e) Budgets should be ring fenced for transport.
f) Community Transport providers should be involved
in planning.
g) Scottish Ambulance Service should refine its
escort policies and do Equality Impact Assessments.
h) SAS
should refine its Patient needs Assessment (PNA) to take account of disabled
people’s real life experiences.
i) The impact and cost to the health services of
inadequate transport should be evaluated and measured.
j) All Local Authorities should have accessible transport
strategies and targets.
In my own experience the main problem (which is
mentioned in the report) is the lack of lead responsibility for transport to
health. And improvement will only come if the Scottish Government bites the
bullet and legislates, backed up by a budget.