Access audit urgently needed for Mullingar – Troy

Last audit carried out in Mullingar was 17 years ago.

Fianna Fáil TD Robert Troy has called on Westmeath County Council, and the Mullingar District Office, to urgently prioritise an accessibility audit of the town to identify issues for residents with restricted mobility.

In a previous response to Deputy Troy, the District Office confirmed that the last such audit took place in 2007 through disability access funding.

The TD said: “Many parts of the town have had substantial works carried out in the intervening years and are unrecognisable from that audit [of 17 years ago].

“I know from speaking with residents of the town who have varying degrees of mobility that they encounter a number of obstacles and impediments on a daily basis.

“We need to clearly identify the issues and action improvements.”

Deputy Try said the council will be investing further in the infrastructure of the town in the coming years, and it is vital that all civil works are guided by the best information in terms of accessibility.

“To that end, I have asked the district manager, and the relevant director of services to prioritise an audit as a matter of urgency – which will help us to plan future works and ensure that all areas of the town are accessible for all.

“It is simply not good enough that audits would not be undertaken on a regular basis and we must ensure that audits in our major towns are carried out on a planned basis.”

Make Way Day

Make Way Day is a campaign that brings the disability and wider community together to consider the needs of people with disabilities in public spaces, and looking at what we can all do immediately to help our fellow citizens get from A to B, a basic right.

Westmeath County Council and their partner organisations in Westmeath Disability Working Group are the rollout of Make Way Day across the county.

The campaign awareness day this year is on Friday September 27.