❓ Mrs Godfrey asks about disability access at the new Perth Stadium. The Minister outlines extensive measures being taken, guided by a disability access working group, to ensure inclusivity and accessibility for people with disabilities.
AnsweredQoN 879Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PERTH
STADIUM — DISABILITY FACILITIES
879. Mrs
G.J. GODFREY to the Minister for Sport and Recreation:
With the focus on the new stadium very much on the fan
experience, can the minister outline to the house what steps are being taken to
ensure it caters for people with disabilities?
STADIUM — DISABILITY FACILITIES
879. Mrs
G.J. GODFREY to the Minister for Sport and Recreation:
With the focus on the new stadium very much on the fan
experience, can the minister outline to the house what steps are being taken to
ensure it caters for people with disabilities?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Belmont for the question. She is
right: every decision we have taken around the stadium has been based on that ''fan
first'' philosophy. In doing that, we need to consider all Western
Australians. Many patrons who want to attend our sporting venues have differing
needs. One group that has helped carefully guide our stadium design has been
the disability access and inclusion working group. We have different working
groups to help us with the planning and design of the stadium. This group is
made up of sports fans with a variety of mobility issues, along with disability
service providers. It comprises people who know what they are talking about and
actually experience it.
I am pleased to advise that the new Perth Stadium will have a
minimum of 750 positions for individuals requiring universal access. These
positions are designed to cater for wheelchairs. They also have enhanced
amenity seats. An enhanced amenity seat is larger than a general admission
seat. It accommodates people with mobility constraints. There is space for
assisting animals or other spatial requirements. There will be areas for carers
as well, along with a range of features including lifts within the stadium.
When the Premier and I spoke to this group recently, we discussed that the best
thing is that these new designs and seats will be flexible. They will enable
people to be seated with their friends when they watch a game. What happens at
a lot of venues now is that a person in a wheelchair sits in his or her area
and their mates have to sit somewhere else. We are making sure they will have
special access so they can spend time with friends. It was really interesting
hearing from them directly on that issue.
In addition, there will be more than 20 accessible bathrooms
and three unique changing-place facilities. Things included in toilets such as
automatic doors will enable easy access in and out. They are things that
able-bodied people may not think about at times. Parenting rooms and other
spaces will allow patrons who have autism and other sensory requirements to use
them. Sometimes people just need to chill out if the noise and excitement gets
a bit too much. There will be an area where they can get a little bit of quiet.
There will be specific areas for food and beverage, and concessional ticket
boxes. We will provide the same experiences for people in wheelchairs as other
customers. Food outlets will have the right height for wheelchair access.
Mr
P.B. Watson : Will there be extra car parks, minister?
Mr
T.K. WALDRON : Yes. The amount of car parking is way above the actual
national construction code requirements. It is a fair interjection.
There will be dedicated drop-off
facilities, access to taxi ranks, and space for accessible vehicles will be
provided. That is the beauty of this working group—I have used it to
ensure we get it right. We have learned from other buildings. I think this will
be the best one that members have seen. That working group will continue to
liaise with us right through to the finalisation of construction. If, along the
way, something has been missed, they will have that input to make sure we get
this right. I congratulate the members of the team doing all this, because they
work so well with not only this user group, but also many other user groups. It
will be a fantastic stadium for all Western Australians to enjoy.
right: every decision we have taken around the stadium has been based on that ''fan
first'' philosophy. In doing that, we need to consider all Western
Australians. Many patrons who want to attend our sporting venues have differing
needs. One group that has helped carefully guide our stadium design has been
the disability access and inclusion working group. We have different working
groups to help us with the planning and design of the stadium. This group is
made up of sports fans with a variety of mobility issues, along with disability
service providers. It comprises people who know what they are talking about and
actually experience it.
I am pleased to advise that the new Perth Stadium will have a
minimum of 750 positions for individuals requiring universal access. These
positions are designed to cater for wheelchairs. They also have enhanced
amenity seats. An enhanced amenity seat is larger than a general admission
seat. It accommodates people with mobility constraints. There is space for
assisting animals or other spatial requirements. There will be areas for carers
as well, along with a range of features including lifts within the stadium.
When the Premier and I spoke to this group recently, we discussed that the best
thing is that these new designs and seats will be flexible. They will enable
people to be seated with their friends when they watch a game. What happens at
a lot of venues now is that a person in a wheelchair sits in his or her area
and their mates have to sit somewhere else. We are making sure they will have
special access so they can spend time with friends. It was really interesting
hearing from them directly on that issue.
In addition, there will be more than 20 accessible bathrooms
and three unique changing-place facilities. Things included in toilets such as
automatic doors will enable easy access in and out. They are things that
able-bodied people may not think about at times. Parenting rooms and other
spaces will allow patrons who have autism and other sensory requirements to use
them. Sometimes people just need to chill out if the noise and excitement gets
a bit too much. There will be an area where they can get a little bit of quiet.
There will be specific areas for food and beverage, and concessional ticket
boxes. We will provide the same experiences for people in wheelchairs as other
customers. Food outlets will have the right height for wheelchair access.
Mr
P.B. Watson : Will there be extra car parks, minister?
Mr
T.K. WALDRON : Yes. The amount of car parking is way above the actual
national construction code requirements. It is a fair interjection.
There will be dedicated drop-off
facilities, access to taxi ranks, and space for accessible vehicles will be
provided. That is the beauty of this working group—I have used it to
ensure we get it right. We have learned from other buildings. I think this will
be the best one that members have seen. That working group will continue to
liaise with us right through to the finalisation of construction. If, along the
way, something has been missed, they will have that input to make sure we get
this right. I congratulate the members of the team doing all this, because they
work so well with not only this user group, but also many other user groups. It
will be a fantastic stadium for all Western Australians to enjoy.
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