Access problems for disabled highlighted

Press, 29 June 1983, Page 5

Access problems for disabled highlighted

Many builders, architects, and developers were still not considering the access problems encountered by disabled people, according to the president of the Canterbury and West Coast branch of the Crippled Children Society, Mr P. R. T. Taylor. In his report to the branch’s annual meeting, he said that the advantage of having a city accessible to all disabled people, including the elderly and infirm, warranted more thought than was indicated by present building designs. The committee announced that it had abandoned a plan to build and maintain its own swimming pool facilities because the costs were prohibitive, but it intended to use the funds

given for this purpose to make Christchurch’s existing swimming pools accessible to the physically disabled. Mr Taylor also said that the committee and a local council were discussing the possibility of a joint project to build a special pool within existing facilities. The national society had decided to take on a wider role and had prepared a statement of the society’s policies and philosophies. Mr Taylor saw this as a big step forward as it meant different branches would be able to adopt a more uniform approach. He said that the local branch was in a very strong position and the treasurer, Mr M. Keyse, said this was reflected in the balance

sheet. In the year to December 31, 1982, the branch’s income had increased substantially from $213,582 in 1981 to $334,364. He said this was largely due to the success of last year’s door-to-door appeal. Although expenditure had increased by 24.5 per cent the excess of expenditure over income had been reduced from $71,402 to $20,451. However, he warned that caution still had to be exercised in a number of areas. In recognition of 30 years of service on the branch committee, Mr J. W. Shanahan was appointed an honorary vice-president. Mr M. Radford was elected the branch’s new president.