Report from the meeting of 27 May 2010
South Ayrshire Access Panel meets on the last Thursday in each month and tackles issues relating to making the environment, facilities and services in South Ayrshire available to all its residents.
A Panel member reported that that the funds have run out to keep Shopmobility open, therefore it will be closing on approx 30th July 2010. Hopefully it will not be closed down for long and is planning to re-open with more volunteers etc. After discussions the Panel feel that it is a tragedy that it has come to this. A lot of people in the town rely on this service.
The Panel were advised that new bins have been placed in the High Street with cigarette ashtrays attached to the top of them and they seem to be working effectively. However, at over £500 per unit these bins are quite expensive to buy. The Council are in discussion with suppliers to see if they can offer a design which provides improved access for disabled users and would keep the Panel advised on progress.
A Panel member who attended the Ayr Citadel for the 4-Ayrshire Panel’s meeting reported that the intercom service was still not working but was informed that it has been ordered to be fixed and the work will be carried out. The Panel had requested that six accessible bays could be “coned off” for visitors to the meeting and was told that, although the Manager would try, there were not enough general parking bays, and a tolerant attitude had been adopted which allowed parking anywhere. The Panel was not impressed with the Citadel’s access practices and will be contacting them to raise these issues.
Environmental Health are dealing with the litter problem that is ongoing with the car park behind Morrisons. The disabled bays are still being abused. The Panel has reported this.
The Panel wanted to say a big thank you to Michael Dunlop for all his work within Shopmobility. It is such a shame that it has came to this but wishes him every success in getting the service back up and running in the future. Michael added that “the fight goes on”.
Reports from previous meetings - November 2005 onwards - can be found in the News archive.