Twin schemes offer disabled access (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Twin schemes offer disabled access

2:30pm Thursday 23rd November 2006 in News

Tewkesbury Town Council is planning to spend around £25,000 on providing wheelchair access to the town hall.

Councillors are considering two options, which will both cost roughly the same.

The first is to install another entrance into the front of the building, along with two powered lifts, one to get wheelchair users into the building and the other to get them up to the reception desk in the Court Room.

However, the town hall comm-ittee is reluctant to alter the faade and character of the historic building, an important feature of the High Street.

The other solution is a ramp to bring wheelchair users into the rear, through the American Garden of Remembrance.

The difference between street level and the building would mean that the ramp would have to be 32 metres long.

It is not known whether there are any water pipes or power cables under the suggested area of the ramp. If any are found, the costs could be even higher than the £25,000 estimate.

There was a question whether providing disabled access at the rear of the building could potentially cause legal problems as it could be seen as discrimin-ating against wheelchair users.

The council will discuss the matter at its next meeting in December.