Park access issues raised

Concerns have been raised about the lack of wheelchair access at many of Auckland’s parks. Disability Connect chair Colleen Brown showed a picture of a playground that had no connecting path to the sidewalk as part of her presentation to Auckland Council’s community committee on November 26.

“To be able to walk to your community local park is wonderful but you can’t get from the pathway to the actual park if you have got a child in a wheelchair,” Brown said at the meeting. I know it can’t be done overnight but even having a budget for over the next three to five years for accessibility features [would be progress].”

Brown said she was on the council’s disability advisory panel for years and raised the issue of an accessibility audit at the time.

“A lot of funding has been paused by the government so families are really struggling for breaks with their children and from their children,” she said.

“For a lot of people in the disability community things are very, very tough.”

Disability advisory panel co-chair Barry de Geest was present at the meeting and said the council was making progress.

“Obviously some of the previous comments have paid off because [the council] has just done an audit of all the parks and pathways in Auckland and they are going to bring out a map that will show all the pathways that people can go on,” de Geest said.