To BCA, InsightSA & others
Of recent time I have been negotiating with my local council as to the
placement of bins on footpaths, which impact on pedestrian accessibility,
together with the growing issues of aging of our population & increased
vision loss as to bin type recognition. I had hoped that if I could get one
council to find a solution then there might be a flow on effect.
Then an email arrived recently from the Geelong Blind Alliance with a new
bin initiative. This was investigated by Marion Council after raising a
potential initiative with them.
Marion Council have investigated & found (responded to by Colin Heath, one
of the managers from the Marion Council)
1. The City of Greater Geelong's initiative is based on 6mm clear
Perspex symbols being installed on bins at the request of their residents,
using bolts and nuts. (a costly & time consuming process)
2. Rather than adopting the symbols used by the City of Greater
Geelong, we recommend adopting an alternative solution by advising residents
(via our website or verbally if they call our Customer Service Centre) to
apply a "tactile solution" to the handle of the recycling bin (a "tactile
solution" being some tape, a piece of string, a rag, tactile marking
products sold by the Royal Society for the Blind and other organisations,
etc.) to provide enough differentiation between the two 240 litre bin sizes.
3. As we discussed, we consider this more educative approach:
a. achieves the benefits you identified (being residents would be
easily able to identify the correct bin to place the correct rubbish in, or
take to the kerbside for collection on the designated day);
b. adds no additional cost to our residents (either for the purchase of
symbols, or for the time to physically visit and fix the symbols to bins);
c. empowers residents to find a solution that works for them
d. Accordingly, in response to your email and discussion, we'll make
some additions to our website to promote this approach to those in our
community who could benefit.
We further discussed the issues of loss of pedestrian footpaths on bin days,
people not placing or collecting at appropriate times, & the growing issue
of design of suburbs without nature strips to place bins upon so as to free
up footpaths. The aging population brings cognition, mobility, vision &
other impairments to the front line, but also as Colin correctly stated,
those without disability are also guilty of wrong bins being placed in the
wrong location, with the wrong contents. It appears that there is no easy
solution.
If any readers would like to give me any ideas they have so I can have
further dialogue with the council & if a new initiative can be found then
Marion is willing to raise at the Local Government association.
David
Dr David Squirrell Retired Medical Consultant
* Blind Citizens Australia (Adelaide Branch) President
* BCA National Policy development Committee
