December 3, 2020
Thursday was International Day Of People With A Disability – and the South Burnett Regional Council wants disabled people to know they have not been forgotten.
A Council spokesperson said Council had been concentrating on providing “inclusive” parking in recent projects.
“The lessons learnt whilst delivering the Murgon works have highlighted the need for strategically placed inclusive parking bays that accommodate all people with mobility concerns,” the spokesperson said.
In Murgon, two “green bays” have been created for the elderly and parents with prams.
Planning is in the early stages for Blackbutt where several inclusive parking bays are planned in the main street.
More accessible parking was also identified as one of the top priorities for the Kingaroy Transformation Project.
There are currently 14 on-street disabled parking spaces; upon completion of the project, this will increase to 30.
As well, an extra seven “green bays” will be added for senior citizens. These spaces will be sited beside disability parking bays, sharing kerb ramp access to the footpath.
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The construction and upgrade of the all-abilities playground at Butter Factory Park in Nanango began on Tuesday.
A Council spokesperson reminded residents that due to the installation of the new equipment, the playground would be closed to the public from December 1-18.
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South Burnett councillors and staff took part in a one kilometre “Red Bench” relay in Kingaroy during a break in their Committee meeting on Wednesday.
Other staff members – encouraged to wear red on the day – walked in Blackbutt, Murgon, Nanango, Proston and Wondai.
Council supports the Red Rose Foundation Red Bench initiative and has located, or plans to locate, Red Benches throughout the region.
Red Benches have already been installed in Wondai, Kingaroy, Nanango, Murgon, Proston, Blackbutt, Kumbia, Wooroolin and Hivesville.
Other benches will be installed at Tingoora, Benarkin, Mondure and Durong.
Some “able” people totally ignore the parking spaces for disabled people. Recently I watched a woman drive into a designated car space for the disabled at the Kingaroy IGA supermarket car park. She and her male passenger, both able bodied, then left the car which happened to be the nearest to the supermarket. This sort of blatant disregard for people with disabilities, must be very upsetting and frustrating for them.
Yes, I agree. I saw the same outside Aldi recently. When I challenged the driver she replied that they had a Disabled sticker. I am 82, but they were more agile than I, and showed no signs of disability whatever. How do people come by these permits? She obviously didn’t have a conscience to go with the sticker.
Actually Julie, I think you will find they have they have a sadly common condition that escapes me right now but is symptomatic of “being discourteous & entitled”. The other people who need to be called out are the able-bodied people who “borrow” a disabled permit so they can use the disabled parking bays (I even heard an excuse once of a person saying “well, I am shopping for the owner of this permit so I am going to use it.”)
No idea…
In saying these comments I am in no way disrespecting the many wonderful people in our community who have disabilities. Many of these people are inspirational in how they live their lives and I am inspired by them every day!