To receive petitions submitted under Standing Order No. 13.
To debate the following petition received from Miss Anastasia Antill, National Citizen Service (NCS) on 25 September, 2017: -
“Accessibility issues in Chesterfield town centre.
We are aiming to improve our community by helping people with disabilities to get around the busy town centre.
As a group, we decided to base our NCS project on tackling the disabled access into the town centre as the research we had carried out, including speaking with members of the public, had shown that many people felt that this was an issue, particularly around the market area. Most of the people we spoke to who had disabilities admitted that they struggled on a regular basis and often avoided going into town.
To improve access, we propose introducing wheelchair ramps at the side of the market to provide better surfaces for wheelchair users and widening the gaps between market stalls to enable wheelchair users to access the market more easily especially on market days.”
The petition contains in excess of 1,000 signatures; therefore it is referred to Council to be debated in accordance with the Council’s petition scheme and Standing Order No. 13.
Miss Antill will attend Council to present the petition and answer questions.
Minutes:
In accordance with Standing Order No.13 Council debated the following petition received from Miss Anastasia Antill, National Citizen Service (NCS) on 25 September, 2017:
“Accessibility issues in Chesterfield town centre.
We are aiming to improve our community by helping people with disabilities to get around the busy town centre.
As a group, we decided to base our NCS project on tackling the disabled access into the town centre as the research we had carried out, including speaking with members of the public, had shown that many people felt that this was an issue, particularly around the market area. Most of the people we spoke to who had disabilities admitted that they struggled on a regular basis and often avoided going into town.
To improve access, we propose introducing wheelchair ramps at the side of the market to provide better surfaces for wheelchair users and widening the gaps between market stalls to enable wheelchair users to access the market more easily especially on market days.”
The petition contained in excess of 1,000 signatures; therefore it was referred to Council to be debated in accordance with the Council’s petition scheme and Standing Order No. 13.
Miss Antill presented the petition and answered Members’ questions.
RESOLVED –
1. That the Council receives and notes the petition regarding matters of accessibility in the town centre.
2. That the petition and tonight’s debate at Full Council be taken into account by Chesterfield Borough Council when developing the planned market reconfiguration project to improve both the accessibility and viability of the market and town centre.
3. That the Council encourages the local National Citizen Service group to continue to work with the Council and other key stakeholders to make the market and town centre more accessible to all and, in particular, to better plan and regulate the siting of street furniture, including the display of advertising (’A’) boards.