Making green spaces accessible for all
Kyneton woman Morgan has been auditing walking trails in parks and gardens to check they're accessible for people with mobility disabilites as part of a project called Walking and Rolling Together.
Morgan was also on the advisory group that developed the accessible walks audit tool for the project. The audit tool (available at the above link) is now freely available for organisations such as land managers and disability and tourism service providers to assess their local walking trails.
So far 27 walks have been audited as being accessible. The walks are mostly in Greater Melbourne (including in Cranbourne and Werribee). Six walks are in regional areas (three in Bendigo, and one in Benalla, Inverloch and Wonthaggi).
Morgan's story
Victoria Walks' Sean Mathews asked Morgan why the project was something she wanted to be a part of.
What was your experience like co-auditing walking paths for accessibility?
I loved it! I enjoyed going to different parks and accessing the paths. It felt good to feel like my input might make parks and paths better for people. I really appreciated the thought process that went into improving the parks and ensuring they are accessible... Looking at things from the toilets to the paths was great, and made me proud to know I was helping make a change. I always felt like my opinion was heard and all my ideas were recognised and put into action for improvements.
What are the benefits to people with disability of having information on accessible walks available?
I think it is very beneficial to have information about the accessibility of walks as it allows everyone to enjoy parks and walks, without having to stress about needing extra help, getting stuck or facing unexpected barriers while on the walk.
Having more information about accessible walks also helps more people feel less anxious about getting outside and enjoying nature.
This initiative will ensure people can go out with or without helpers and know exactly what to expect. For me I think knowing the parks are accessible reduces frustration and time wasting and allows me to know I will enjoy the experience. It makes me excited and happy to know that I can now research walks that I know will be accessible to me.
What do you think it means for carers?
It gives carers the opportunity the know exactly what to expect, help them be prepared and ensure they can enjoy the experience as much as their patient. It will result in carers feeling confident, not needing to be worried about unexpected barriers such as steps, lack of water, [whether] toilets are accessible ...
How would you like to see this project develop?
I would like to see more walks in my area and more accessibly inclusive parks, benches, toilets, and signage in these parks. I would love for this project to continue so there are hundreds of walks I can confidently go on with my helpers all around Melbourne.
I would like to see more accessible interactive walks, such as signs with information about the area that have text and potentially braille or a speaker, so low-vision people can also enjoy information about the area.
In the future I would love for parks to be designed with accessibility in mind, therefore they would have ramps, disabled toilets and easy access water fountains as a minimum. I did really enjoy the accessible playground so more of those would be great.
Find the walks audited as accessible so far at this link.
Victoria Walks acknowledges the support of 'Access for All Abilities', an initiative of the Victorian Government.
