Robbie,

I had the pleasure of giving Mr Thomas Chambers of Newport a tour of the Belmullet Civic Centre this afternoon.

While he was generally impressed with the facilities, he expressed disappointment with the Disabled Toilet in that there was no proper grab rail on the wall to the right of the person seated on the toilet to enable them to pull themselves properly on the toilet. The sink he felt was protruding over the persons legs and the tap was away from the person. Ideally the person using the toilet should be able to wash and dry his hands while in a seated position on the toilet bowl (the drier is a distance away).

He made some observations in relation to the bollards, seating and lampposts outside the building, which, given their colour, may not be readily seen by visually impaired persons and that some colouring be put on them to make them more conspicuous.

He pointed out that the disabled parking signs should have a blue rim instead of the red rim as on the signs provided.

Some of the doors, despite the fact that they are fire doors, are hard to push especially for a person with disabilities

Mr Chambers pointed out that all powerpoints are at a low level.

In the lift there should be a continuous rail around the walls. As the lightbulbs are blowing frequently due to the fact that they are continuously on, would it be possible to have light on sensors that illuminate when the lift opens?

There should be tactile tiling at the top of the stairs to indicate a change in level.

Perhaps some of these issues could be looked at when the snagging is being done???

Regards,

Padraig