Shire of Harvey Accessibility Bus Tour
Shire of Harvey President Cr Michelle Campbell, Cr John Bromham and Mark Newman, Co-Director Community and Lifestyle, joined Shire residents and the Advocacy WA community team on an accessibility bus tour through the Shire on Thurs 15 February.
Organised by Andre Morris, Community Development Officer at the Shire of Harvey, the tour covered the main shopping area of Harvey town as well as Cookernup and Yarloop. Despite high temperatures, the intrepid community accessibility investigators, including passionate disability advocate and Included Solutions owner Tristan Payne, embarked on a five-hour jaunt around the Shire.
Along the way, the team met with Cookernup Community Association President and volunteer firefighter Jac Taylor. As organiser of the popular and well attended Watch Out Wednesday morning teas, Jac advocated for locals needing better access in the area.
Julie-Ann Ford boarded the bus for the Yarloop leg of the trip, sharing from her local knowledge and experience as manager of the Yarloop Community Resources Centre.
Advocacy WA is currently assisting the Shire of Harvey to identify issues impacting on disability accessibility to assist their action planning in this area. Sara Gunning and Ryan Couanon from Advocacy WA were on board the accessibility bus, guiding and advising on potential areas for improvement.
“It was a wonderful initiative by the Shire of Harvey and great to see senior members of the Shire team taking time out of their busy schedules to participate. Listening to the voices of people with lived experience is crucial to forming a robust accessibility plan and it was great to hear from local residents taking part in this important conversation” said Sara Gunning, Community Advocate at Advocacy WA.
Interested in improving customer service and making your organisation more accessible? Find out more about our accessibility training and consultations at:
https://www.advocacywa.org.au/latest/accessibility-assessment
or contact Sara Gunning at community@advocacywa.org.au or 0499 014 110
