Deputy Mayor Georgie Davies said more than 50 obstructions were pointed out to her over the space of two blocks during her walk down the main street. Photo: Wagga Wagga City Council.
Wagga Wagga’s Deputy Mayor Georgie Davies and several other local community leaders got to see Baylis Street in a new light this week.
With the insight of disability support group Intereach, Ms Davies was made aware of the challenges elderly and disabled people face just walking the main streets of Wagga.
“As part of Inclusion at Work Week, Interreach invited people from different parts of the community for a walk to understand the challenges that people may face if they’re using a mobility scooter, or if they’re blind, vision impaired, whatever the disability, and how tricky it can be sometimes just to get around,” Ms Davies said.
“It was quite an eye-opening experience. It’s all about the convenience that people aren’t getting and then little things like bumpy footpaths as an obvious example.
“In the perfect world, we would build everything with the most disabled person in mind, but we’ve got to, now, retrospectively, go and bid out things.
“There were 50 or more hazards just within a couple of blocks that were pointed out to us.”
Ms Davies acknowledged that she was unaware of some of the issues presented to her and she had a newfound understanding of the struggles people could face.
“I’ve really noticed some problems since I’ve had kids and having a pram, but this was next level,” she said.
“If I have a pram, I can still lift it up and down little ledges and steps, but if you’re in a mobility scooter, you can’t do that, you have to have flat surfaces.
“There were even things related to several businesses; if the door that you enter doesn’t have a ramp or isn’t wide enough, then you actually just can’t go into that business.
“It’s definitely something that I’m going to be aware of when accepting new developments or new applications in future meetings.”
Ms Davies said in the short term, she would be looking at ways to improve access to Peter Street, which had become a hub for many disability services in Wagga.
“Something that I think we should get behind is fixing up Peter Street, particularly the end near the highway,” she said.
“It has become a hub for disability services, and it’s one of the oldest streets in Wagga. Providing disability parking down that end of the road and making it as easily accessible for the people who use those services seems like a logical first step.”
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