Portobello Beach: disabled access project

[rapunzell]

I hope K is better now and back at home. I think a celebration beach BBQ is a fantastic idea - I wish I could give the kids a date for the party!

It is so difficult to visualise a pathway on that sand some days; I don't know how long it will take to get something that works. Also, the pub near me has just had its permanent wheelchair ramp stolen and that thing was very heavy, so we too may have a path one day and not the next. I hate that thought. At least we always have the option of using *very* temporary pathways, with storage and volunteers - the council will help with buying that sort of pathway if we can get the storage and volunteers! At least we'd be able to get the kids onto the beach for a party

[rapunzell]

Alan McGregor will be presenting the beach access proposal to the Services for Communities Management team soon, and will get back to us with their response.

In the meantime, he has found a Glasgow supplier for a 'deployable matting system' that we might be able to get a look at. It would be one of the very temporary pathways that would have to be laid out and removed and stored, but this would still be access.

Does anyone know the management of the Turkish Baths? At the moment they are the only staffed recreational facility on the prom by a useable bit of sand for a temporary pathway, and it would be interesting to see if they could become involved, even on a voluntary basis.

[Denise]

Are the baths and swim centre not run by Edinburgh Leisure (part of City of Edinburgh Council)? If so Alan McGregor should be able to approach them in an official capacity.

[Poppy]

Are the baths and swim centre not run by Edinburgh Leisure (part of City of Edinburgh Council)? If so Alan McGregor should be able to approach them in an official capacity.

This is their website "www.edinburghleisure.co.uk"

[rapunzell]

Thanks guys. I'll ask him after the meeting with the CSM, which hopefully will have gone well!

[rapunzell]

Had a lovely supportive email from Kirsty Rosie, DHT at Towerbank Primary School. The Towerbank kids have adopted part of the beach so the access project is of interest to them, especially along their bit of beach.

[Bob Jefferson]

Seems to have gone a bit quiet on this front. Do you have an update for us Rapunzell?

[rapunzell]

Seems to have gone a bit quiet on this front. Do you have an update for us Rapunzell?

Nothing new to report yet unfortunately. There are meetings, survey plans and reports going on in the background, but nothing solid has happened yet as far as I know.

The one thing we could still do on our own is go ahead and buy a temporary pathway and roll it in and out for community events eg fireworks night, but not without without voluntary staff and storage. If we were doing this independently of the CEC, we'd probably need to arrange our own third party insurance in this current litigious climate, but if we got around that detail it would be much easier.

[rapunzell]

The seasonal sand containment systems have returned to the prom. I don't normally associate Sundays with the activities of council workmen but that was when they appeared; just in time to block off the Bath Street ramp for the firework night bonfire. Not that there was a shortage of beach bonfires last night.

Bath St blockades aside, there seems to have been an effort to leave access at other ramps this time. Do your best scouting while out and about and send photos of any gaps that, well, aren't, and we can get them improved in time for the hogmany beachy stuff. By which time there might even be a path.

[Poppy]

There are blocks at the Bellfield Street ramp but there is a large space left for access - at the moment! And as always there is unblocked access at the mini-ramp near the bottom of Pittville Street.

[rapunzell]

Thanks Poppy; it sounds as though they have made more of an effort this year.

I'm going to start prodding various departments this week to see if there has been any progress.

[rapunzell]

Alan McGregor has been quietly working on our behalf within the many and varied council departments and things are moving along:

Edinburgh Building Services have been costing the work required to make the sea wall entrances more accessible, and proper wheelchair access to a minimum of one ramp will now be part of the mainstream alterations and routine work for 2007, the proposal for which has been presented to senior management and Services for Communities.

The Parks Management/ Baileyfield Taskforce (the beach sweeping tractor team) are discussing how it might be possible to incorporate the laying out and maintenance of a heavy-duty temporary pathway into their normal daily work. There is a pathway they have been looking at to get an idea, one currently used on a stretch of Brighton beach that requires a tractor and four workers to lay out but can usually stay in place for a couple of months.

So while there is nothing for us to zoom out to sea on just yet, and probably won't be till spring, it is good to know that we have not been forgotten, and there is optimism in the air..

[Izzie]

From tonights news

Beach access ramped up

DISABLED people will have better access to Portobello beach thanks to a series of improvements.

A project is currently under way which will see alterations to the steep entrance ramps and the installation of temporary pathways across the sand and down to the water.

The Portobello Beach Access Project was launched by local artist Morag Edward.

She said: "Improved beach access will open up more than the freedom of the sand and sea."

It is hoped the first of the pathways will be in place within weeks.

[Bob Jefferson]

And coverage in the latest issue of the Portobello Reporter as well - online version available soon!

[rapunzell]

From tonights news

Beach access ramped up

DISABLED people will have better access to Portobello beach thanks to a series of improvements.

A project is currently under way which will see alterations to the steep entrance ramps and the installation of temporary pathways across the sand and down to the water.

The Portobello Beach Access Project was launched by local artist Morag Edward.
She said: "Improved beach access will open up more than the freedom of the sand and sea."

It is hoped the first of the pathways will be in place within weeks.

Unexpected publicity! I hope some of the more resistant council departments notice Still working on them..

[rapunzell]

The idea of involving the Turkish Baths (storage space and/or staff) in some way regarding temporary pathways is another idea that the various council departments have added to their list of 'things to discuss'. It would be incredibly useful, especially if we had to manage without outside help or beach supervision.

Unfortunately that council list is of 'beachy things to discuss/ consider/ be stunned at is *huge* and growing weekly (not the beach access project but beach issues in general) so it may need to be refreshed after the main meetings and financial shenanigans are over, and the Turkish Baths option may just be rejected as an extra depending on the order in which things are done. Or what they had for lunch.

I spotted something on the postcard gallery (posted Dec 9th) that I will try to link to here to show you. I don't know what it's called, but it looks like a midget mobile jetty with beach wheels. I think it was a useful thing for swimming, shore fishing, diving and small boats in ye olden days, especially for the kids. Does anyone here know more about it? Maybe the more refined bathers liked to use it to reach the water without getting sand in between their toes.

[rapunzell]

Ok, I couldn't make the picture happen here after all..

[Poppy]

Ok, I couldn't make the picture happen here after all..

You'll have to speak very nicely to Bob!! (i.e. be complimentary about Gretna and Carlisle )

[rapunzell]

I like Carlisle, I got stranded there once and the Polis were lovely.

[Bob Jefferson]

Do you mean this?

[rapunzell]

Yup, that's the fella! Thanks Bob

[rapunzell]

If the planning permission goes ahead for Portobello Sailing Club's Bath Street base, we should be able to use that to encourage the council to add a temporary or seasonal pathway to the Bath Street ramp as well as any they are currently considering.

One of the departments maintaining the prom access points, (nothing to do with the proposed pathways etc) so far believes altering *one single* ramp access point along the entire promenade would be sufficient for any 'disabled needs', and that is what they are suggesting in meetings.

If anyone is or knows of someone who will be interested in being able to get down to the shore at last, please add your voice (or your name) to the project! The council has no idea how many people or groups would benefit from this. Also, does anyone know how to make this a more formal push? We need to consolidate the progress we've already made and ensure certain departments in the council don't just go with the absolute minimum they can get away with.

[Izzie]

How about asking Jack

Here is a link

http://forthone.co.uk/Article.asp?id=341128

[rapunzell]

How about asking Jack

Here is a link

http://forthone.co.uk/Article.asp?id=341128

Thanks Izzie, that's an excellent idea! If lots of people email in to them then they'll know it is a subject worth looking into, and who knows where we'll get! Right, I'm going to start passing this link around

[rapunzell]

Well, I've emailed in my question for the First Minister, namely is he aware of the ansence of equal access to the beaches of Scotland's capital city and the council's hopes that they will get away with altering just one ramp on the entire Portobello-Joppa promenade, and doing that in no great rush, or words to that effect..

Please use this link to add your questions (this one - or indeed for any other problems) and help get us some extra help!


http://forthone.co.uk/Article.asp?id=341128

[Denise]

e mail Susan Deacon...?

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/m ... ontact.htm

[rapunzell]

Yup, she's already keen!

Or now that I think of it, she's keen on the idea but knows it isn't high on the list or in the public arena, so additional emails/ new voices would help boost that profile.

Thanks

[Izzie]

How about an email to Mark Turley.
Sorry I don't know his email addy,but I am sure someone here might know it.

[rapunzell]

I haven't heard that name before. Is he involved in access issues?

[Izzie]

He is head of most things to do with the council.

[rapunzell]

Okay, thanks Izzie and Denise, I'll add him to the list of council bods to email/ chase up during next week's check-up on/ prodding for progress.

Alan McGregor (CEC) has just been in touch with a name for us to liase with now: Chris Stannard.

I'm still hoping that this will all be picked up by an action group, or disabled triathalon competitors, or a school, or visitors who had their coastal holiday spoilt by having to stay on the prom; anyone who will start bombarding the council too. Those additional voices might get a new dimension of CEC and Tourist Board attention/ fear/ realisation/ response etc.. And if the complaints/ recommendations came from an experienced sand engineer we might be rolling forward even faster!

[rapunzell]

I'm up to my eyeballs in project paperwork and email juggling, so thought I'd take a break and share a photo for a laugh, courtesy of Julian Harris:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/96947382@N00/388105218/

The hopeful side so far is that there is a growing number of people showing interest, with new names and fresh avenues to pursue, the bad is that there are several members of council management who refuse to answer emails. Actually, I think it is time I named those people, as I suspect they are supposed to be publicly answerable. I'll do that next time.

Last week I encountered a travel journalist and access researcher named Scott Rains, who is very interested in following the progress of this project, and sharing the information with his readers and fellow travellers. I think that people like Scott will remind CEC and Scottish Tourism that we are not just talking about a little beach or a local project, but about the beach attached to a major international tourist destination, and that these travellers have standards and expectations. This might help reroute a little money and attention.

That reminds me, the CEC website of A-Z services has no mention of beaches, so I've contacted them to remind them. We'll fall under the varied categories of Leisure, Recreation, Outdoors, Sports and Tourism, and they'll link to the website's existing subsections to list access - or the absence of it, along with info on public transport, parking, toilets, facilities etc.

[rapunzell]

Just in case CEC are slow to improve things, there are ways around Porty pavement edges and steep beach ramps, as well as onto the sand itself:


http://www.powerchair-review.fsnet.co.uk/tankchair.htm


Unfortunately these tanks are only at the test stage, but in the meantime I've sent for quotes for the Landeez sand buggies that are being provided at beaches around the UK bought by councils and lent free to locals and visitors. When the first beaches (Cornwall) were providing them back in 2005 the chairs had to be imported from the US and cost around £3000 each, but the councillors backed the purchases as a necessity for locals and the tourist industry, and aimed for a minimum of one per beach. Nowadays the chairs only cost about half that, thanks to the efforts of the English councils to bring so many across. Still too expensive for the average individual, but worth it for a community service.

This year already more than *twenty* beaches South of the border have the Landeez all-terrain wheelchairs ready and in the tourist info. And what of beach access in Scotland?.. Well, they have finally arrived! The first sandy beach in Scotland will be providing them this year - in Lerwick, Shetland! I called the contact number earlier today to check but there was no reply so I'll get back to them later.

[Denise]

The first sandy beach in Scotland will be providing them this year - in Lerwick, Shetland! I called the contact number earlier today to check but there was no reply so I'll get back to them later.

Wow!

(They were probably all out playing on the new tank chair).

Looks great.

Could be stored at Edinburgh Leisure facilities at the turkish baths too.

[rapunzell]

If those powertank chairs ever get into production I'll volunteer to test drive one

I'm hoping that CEC agree that the chairs - and hiring them from the Turkish baths - are a good fast cheap way of enabling access (while they're getting on with the rest of it) and will buy a couple for this season