isabled toilets too small for wheelchairs

Disabled toilets too small for wheelchairs
THURSDAY, 05 AUGUST 2010
ONLY one in four disabled toilets constructed at a e4.8 million flagship community building on the Southside can be used, as the others are too small for wheelchair access, it has emerged.
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council constructed the four disabled toilets in different sections of the newly built Mounttown Community Centre.
However, eight months after the building opened for business only one of the toilets is currently in use after it was realised the other lavatories were too small for wheelchair access.
When the council realised the error they ordered workmen to rip all the fittings out of three of the toilets and they have remained closed.
It is understood that the fourth toilet is only accessible through a separate shower room and therefore is operating outside current regulations for public buildings.
Regulations state that in buildings or parts of buildings, one WC suitable for use by wheelchair users of either sex and approached separately from other sanitary accommodation should be provided “as a minimum”.
The Mounttown community facility, which was built late last year and has yet to be officially opened, was developed at a cost of e4.8 million. It accommodates approximately 60 staff who work for a number of non-profit companies that provide services to locals including a crèche, a drug addiction service, a community development project and a boxing club.
An employee of one of the community groups who contacted this newspaper said: “From day one the wheelchair toilets that they built were too small.
“Various wheelchair users came down and couldn't get into them. In January the council ripped them out and they haven’t been replaced to date. This is a huge waste of taxpayers’ money.”
The employee, who did not want to be named, added: "Three of the toilets are shut completely. Only one of them is open but is operating outside the regulations because to access it the disabled users have to first pass through a shower room.
“There are pipes sticking out of the floor and there are toilets sitting underneath the emergency stairs. It is a really bizarre situation. The sink from the toilets and the various pipes are just sitting out in the corridor.
“In a year of combating poverty and social inclusion, for a brand new building to be inaccessible to someone with a wheelchair disability is appalling.”
The source said disabled people regularly use the building and maintains that the council has postponed the official opening of the facility because of the disabled toilet issue.
“I know the council have booked in various disabled users to use various rooms in the building,” the employee revealed.
“It is something I have been concerned about because I have seen them coming and going and a lot of them have severe Down Syndrome or cerebral palsy. One or two are in a wheelchair and I am questioning where they are going to go. They have nowhere to go.
“This is the council’s new shiny toy of a building in the midst of a recession and they are going to want a lot of good publicity around it.
“I can’t see them doing their grand opening given the way the building is. You couldn’t have a grand opening and have ministers there without any disabled toilets.”
Dermot Hayes, who is a spokesperson for People With Disabilities in Ireland (PWDI), noted that the council has a statutory obligation to provide toilet facilities for disabled users in its buildings.
“The regulations state that all new public and local authority buildings have to be made accessible to people with disabilities and in consultation with people with disabilities,” he said.
“There is currently a huge shortage of money nationally for key facilities and to be fitting out facilities and then undoing work is an awful waste of public funds. Funds are so scarce now.”
A spokesperson for the council said: “The council has not been idle since this issue arose some months ago. We want to sort this out and ensure that all statutory obligations are met going forward.
“A consultant architect who specialises in catering for the needs of people with a disability has conducted a thorough audit of the disabled toilet areas and has now drawn up a list of clear recommendations to resolve the situation, which we acknowledge needs urgent attention