BUNBURY could hold the title of the most accessible regional city in Australia by 2020.
A report tabled in a council briefing last night urged the City of Bunbury council to adopt the goal and investigate disability access and inclusion for the city.
The most accessible regional city concept, or MARCIA, was developed by Bunbury’s community access committee in an effort to encourage the community to take the need of people with disabilities into consideration.
The concept also calls on council to approve an annual funding increase from $20,000 currently outlined in the budget to about $70,000 to achieve the goal.
Deputy mayor and community access committee chair Brendan Kelly first raised the idea last year.
Mr Kelly told the Bunbury Mail that he was grateful for the current level of funding but needed more to improve inclusion and access.
“I will be asking Council to recommit to the principals of access and inclusion by allocating more resources to the MARCIA,” Mr Kelly said.
“We are one community and we support access to all areas for all people of all ability all of the time – I would like people to help out where they can.”
He said the strategy would involve educating the community on what it means to be an accessible city.
“It will also seek external funding for practical priority on-ground works [like] paths, crossings and ramps,” he said.
Enable South West director Rhea Tansell said access and inclusion for people with disability wasn’t just about “bricks, mortar and ramps”.
“It’s less about physical access and attitudes, and more about people seeing people with disability belonging in their community – it’s about seeing that they are missing from our community and that they shouldn’t be,” Ms Tansell said.
“I think as a regional city we are leading the way in regards to disability access and it shows that we’ve come a long way in having contemporary views about disability and that people with disability belong in our community.”
Council is expected to vote on adopting the concept and its goals next week.