By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A buggy had been suggested to transport people from Bunjil Place to its distant disabled car parks, a Casey Council report reveals.
The proposal with possible volunteer drivers was discussed at a Casey Access and Inclusion Advisory Committee meeting on 12 February, but has not been enacted by the council.
The lack of accessible parking has become a hot issue since Bunjil’s 85-space basement car park – including disabled parking and a lift – was closed to the public.
The nearest disabled parking bay is at least 200 steps from the customer service desk, and requires crossing in the elements over Patrick North East Drive.
“Feedback is that they are quite a distance away and some have been unavailable when large events are taking place in the plaza,” the minutes of the meeting state.
Casey councillor Amanda Stapledon said she loved the buggy idea.
“It came from a suggestion from one of the access and inclusion members, who would look to providing the buggy.
“I’m passionate about access being available to everyone to Bunjil Place.”
She said she was pleased by the response of council officers to fixing up access issues since the building opened in October.
Casey has followed up suggestions for an accessibility improvement audit and handrails on the footbridges over the northern dry moat.
The committee also spoke about the difficulty of finding entry and exit points in Bunjil’s glass wall, and “many more” accessibility issues inside the building.
Bunjil’s design complied with disability access and building code standards. But there was an identified “gap between best practice and … baseline requirements,” according to the committee’s minutes.
Bunjil Close Out Projects manager Mark Dibsdale recently told Star News that 22 accessible parking bays were located as close as possible to the entrances of Casey ARC and Bunjil.
An additional two accessible parking bays were set to be installed in the ARC car park.
