Cootamundra Shire Council will re-mark four of their disabled parking spaces in the central business district bringing them up to national standards and improving ease of use for disabled people.
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Current Australian Standards say all disabled parking bays must be 2.4 metres wide with a 2.4 metre shared area for people to enter and exit their vehicle.
In Cootamundra, spaces range from 2.4 metres to 6.9 metres which includes the kerb access ramp to the footpath.
Some bays do not have the mandatory shared area marked beside the space and another abnormality with existing bays is kerb ramps do not all line up with the alignment of the marked parking bay.
The parking spaces to receive the re-marking treatment include Parker Street, in front of the ANZ Bank, Bourke Street opposite the taxi rank, Bourke Street outside Braybrooks Pharmacy and Cooper Street opposite the Council Chambers.
There are 11 other disabled spots around the town including at schools, public amenities blocks, the Council carpark behind IGA, the town pool, library and Arts Centre.
It had been pointed out by Cootamundra Shire Councillor Craig Stewart earlier this year that existing disabled parking spaces in the main street were not adequately marked to stop some people parking so close to the kerb access ramp, those in a wheelchair were unable to manoeuvre their way through.
At the time, Cr Stewart called for action to rectify the issue, which he said was occurring when disabled people who relied on a walking stick rather than a wheelchair were parking closer to the ramp that others who needed to get a chair out of their vehicle.
Following Cr Stewart’s request to investigate the size and availability of disabled parking spaces in the central business district, Council’s Engineering Services arm looked at the issue and it has been determined providing definite areas for parking by re-marking the lines will assist in alleviating any issue.