Shop access call out

By Melissa Meehan
PAKENHAM resident David Fairweather has praised the Cardinia Shire Council for its Footpath Trading Policy, but wants them to take it one step further.
Mr Fairweather said the steps to reduce clutter on footpaths throughout the shire were a step in the right direction, but the council must look at forcing shops to upgrade difficult-to-access shop steps to level entrances or introduce graduated ramps.
He said as an elderly member of the community he often finds it difficult to enter shops along Main Street that have stairs at their entrance, and many don’t even have rails.
“I have even given up going into some of those shops,” Mr Fairweather said.
“The new shopping centre development will take this into consideration by law, so I think that the other shops should have to do something about their accessibility too.”
He said accessibility to shops in Pakenham had been put in the “too-hard basket” for far too long. A spokesman for the Cardinia Shire, Paul Dunlop, said the council was supportive of more accessible services and facilities across the municipality.
“However, accessibility to shops is beyond the council’s control and it is up to individual business operators to install ramps and or handrails,” he said.
“The council has introduced improved standards for footpath access to ensure that people, especially mums with prams or people with a disability, can safely utilise shopping strip footpaths.”
He said there would also be an inclusion of an accessible for all public toilet with greater circulation space, a hoist and adult changing table in the new Pakenham Hall and Library development.
He said all new facilities built in the shire must comply with Cardinia’s access design guidelines.
The exact number of residents with a disability in the Cardinia Shire is unknown, but more than 4000 disabled persons parking permits have been issued with high levels of physical impairments.