Many of our roads and footpaths were designed before the advent of mobility scooters and other mobility assisted equipment, so we’ve carried out Accessibility Audits in the central business districts of Waihi, Paeroa and Ngatea to see how we can improve things, particularly for our disabled and elderly residents. An accessibility audit is also being done in Whiritoa.
The audits covered:
- Mobility Parking spaces
- Kerb ramps
- Tactiles
- Footpaths
- Road crossings
- Street Furniture
- Temporary Traffic Management
The audits identified several sites in all three towns which need to be improved for accessibility reasons and categorises these sites as follows:
- Serious Safety Risk – Where it is considered serious injury may occur if the issue is not addressed
- Significant Concern – Major inconveniences; and
- Minor Concern – Minor inconveniences.
The sites identified as having serious safety risks in the accessibility audits will be prioritised first (to be fixed) then the sites of significant concern and so on.
