Hove venue given deadline to instal lift for disabled access
Campaigners fighting for improved disabled access to buildings and public spaces have asked why a Hove seafront restaurant was allowed to open without a lift to its roof terrace.
Pippa Hodge, from Brighton Access for Disabled Groups Everywhere (BADGE), asked Brighton and Hove City Council Planning Committee about Rockwater which has no lift to its new roof terrace.
When the designs for the venue were approved in August, Rockwater proposed that a lift would be included in the west side of the building.
But Ms Hodge asked councillors to explain why the venue had been allowed to operate since last December without access to the roof, breaking council policy and the Equalities Act.
She said: “The law is clear that access is a requirement and should have been a condition of use of the roof terrace. Why do disabled people’s needs continue to be last to be addressed?”
During the meeting on Wednesday (6 October), Ms Hodge also asked councillors to commit to training to understand the Equalities Act.
She said that disabled people needed more than the minimum requirements if they were to have full access to buildings.
Green councillor Leo Littman, chairs the council’s Planning Committee, said that council officials had added a condition requiring that the lift be installed by Saturday 5 February.
He said: “If the lift is not made available by that date, operation of the venue must cease until it is.
“While it is, of course, disappointing the venue does not yet have full access for those with disabilities, this is being addressed by the condition in the new permission.
“As noted in the question, the equalities requirements are covered by other legislation and can be enforced by other means if they are breached.”
Councillor Littman agreed to add Equalities Act training to the Planning Committee’s programme describing it as a “useful contribution”.
Rockwater said: “Rockwater Hove has every intention of ensuring that the lift will be in place with full disabled access by the date stipulated.”
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For goodness sake, please learn how to spell ‘instal’.
https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/18896/uses-of-instal-vs-install
Instal is the English English spelling and install is the American English spelling, similarly instil and fulfil.
Perhaps you should check the Oxford English Dictionary rather than using Google and coming up with an American web result which is wrong.
Sounds like a job to be done over the winter.
Their focus this year would have been getting the business running and in profit.
Remember when this venture was starting up it was all about community – that seems to have been lost now. Simply unacceptable to not be complying with the law. Not sure why councilors have given them more time, they knew this was an issue back in April and plans should have already at least been in place. Speaks volumes that Rockwater have nothing to say.
Boycott needed
1. Why would it take until February to install a disabled lift? Their initial plans included a lift so why can’t they just dust them off and get on with it?
2. It would seem Rockwater are currently breaking the law. If anyone wants to launch a crowdfunder for a prosecution, I will gladly donate.
To positively discriminate against a certain group in this day and age seems unthinkable and yet Rockwater continues to do this, (despite in order to get planning approval a lift was in the plans). Would we tolerate this with any other minority group in society? City of Sanctuary, city of segregation more like.
Also need to cater for hard of hearing and blind and those with less money