One Voice - for disabled people
One Voice Access Group has had 9 meetings with the Wolverhampton City Council Access Officer, project managers and others regarding the plans for the new Bilston Leisure Centre.
We have also had meetings with the Women's Design Group and BBAP - the Bilston and Bradley Action Partnership, about some of the problems, and have worked in partnership with both these groups and local Councillors to challenge the access problems in the original plans.
As the Building is now open, we went on some access visits with the access officer to see how far our concerns had been adressed.
Here are some of the concerns disabled people's groups have identified with the new building:
[Note that the Gym has not yet been visited]
| Outside | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Extra room required at rear of parking bays for ramps |
| 2 | The external bollards don’t stand out clearly - they need a yellow band |
| 3 | Tree has been located on the access route from the car park. No contrast or change of texture on ground. |
| 4 | Benches too high and slippery - at least one should be lower. |
| 5 | Ramp too steep on boulevard (near road) and camber across also seems too steep. |
| 6 | No guidance paths to entrance doors. |
Ground Floor |
|
| 7 | Entrance off car park is too dark and has no seating |
| 8 | Reception signage inside the entrance off car park is too small – would also be better on opposite wall. |
| 9 | Baby Changing in Crèche not at suitable height and no wash basin. |
| 10 | Corners of windowsill in crèche– no protection for children |
| 11 | Disabled WC in crèche – soap dispenser is in the wrong location. It is to the left of the basin. |
| 12 | Children’s toilets in crèche – need one door opening outwards |
| 13 | Hand dryers in children’s toilets in wrong location (outside cubicle doors) |
| 14 | Sockets in crèche too low |
| 15 | Signage to men’s toilet too high and not tactile |
| 16 | Men’s toilet next to crèche - the ambulant cubicle door is too narrow at 560mm clear effective width, grab rails should be contrasting, cubicle width is 820mm. Also no support rails at urinals |
| 17 | Baby change off corridor– table is too high, the door should open outwards. No circulation space. No wash basin. No padding for babies. Bin lid won’t open properly. |
| 18 | Ladies toilets – grab rails in ambulant cubicle should contrast. Gap between privacy screen and pillar is too narrow at 700mm. |
| 19 | No Paper towel dispenser in disabled persons WC on ground floor. The soap falls from dispenser onto grabrail and is making it slippery. Bin in wrong location. Drop down rail not working properly. Lever on tap too far away. Door has a door closer. |
| 20 | Door leading to spectator seating – the frame needs to contrast and the handle is too high. |
| 21 | What will people do who can’t put bands from lockers around wrists? |
| 22 | Lockers - The locking and mechanism needs lots of manual dexterity, we couldn’t detach key from lock. |
| 23 | No instructions to use lockers to put £1 in. |
| 24 | Stairs – no lower rails, rail starts too high (1m) and goes to 900mm on stairs – not consistent |
| 25 | Spectator seating – wheelchair/scooter users can only sit at front. Where are guide dog spaces? Wheelchairs can’t get through to the left by the pillar. Also no guard rails at higher seats. The steps in middle of seats – the nosings do not contrast. |
| 26 | Recommend yellow lane dividers. |
| 27 | All columns should have contrasting bands. |
| 28 | No paper towel dispenser in ground floor changing room. |
| 29 | Bins need to be out of way of toilets – to allow for transfer of wheelchairs. |
| 30 | Ambulant shower cubicles – no place to put sticks, no shelves or pegs, doors to narrow. All shower chairs on same wall – no handed ones. |
| 31 | Toilets at far end on ground floor - ambulant disabled too narrow yet the larger cubicle has got no grab rails and is more accessible. |
| 32 | Ladies ground floor changing – shelf too near corner, could easily get knocked |
| 33 | Need drop down table/bench in disabled changing areas |
| 34 | Portable bench – can it go within shower areas? |
| 35 | Ground floor ladies changing room – grab rails vertical and white on white, need to contrast |
| 36 | Shower/ changing room ground floor – bins in wrong locations, soap dispensers wrong place, alarm pull tied up, no shelves or hooks, no paper towel dispenser. Drop down rails difficult to use. Should say on accessible change room doors if left or right transfers. Tap levers wrong side. |
| 37 | Studio pool door – difficult to get through. |
| 38 | Accessible hair dryer is too heavy – contrasting box to put money in – not good. |
| 39 | Changing village disabled person’s WC’s – soap dispensers in wrong locations. No paper towel dispensers. |
| 40 | Ordinary changing cubicles benches don’t contrast. |
| 41 | No padded cushions in baby change units in changing village. |
| 42 | No contrasting strip around lift. |
| 43 | Buttons to lift not very clear |
| 44 | No tapping rail from changing village under stairs |
| 45 | No corduroy tactile at landings on internal stairs |
Mezzanine Floor |
|
| 46 | Vending machine on mezzanine floor along corridor is obstruction. |
| 47 | Signage is too small. |
| 48 | Manifestation not good enough at glass panels overlooking pool. |
| 49 | Glass design outside sports hall – accident waiting to happen. The contrasting is not good enough. |
| 50 | Notice boards with glass – need to have film to stop reflection |
| 51 | Mezzanine floor lockers – require more for visually impaired |
| 52 | Dance studio – Skirting boards should contrast |
| 53 | In disabled person’s showers need shelves for shampoo etc next to shower controls |
| 54 | The mezzanine floor accessible shower/changing room has the soap dispenser in wrong location. An access pane wouldn’t shut. |
| 55 | Shower seats hurts your legs |
| 56 | Lighting in locker areas is very low on mezzanine floor |
| 57 | Mezzanine floor toilets – the ambulant disabled toilets has narrow door. |
| 58 | Separate changing rooms on mezzanine floor have a grabrail missing. |
| 59 | Pressure in taps in toilets is too high. |
| 60 | Why safety hinges on doors on mezzanine doors?– safety for children but not safety elsewhere |
If you are interested in this or any other projects and would like to get involved or find out more, contact us
You can see some photos that relate to these issues here>>