Issue
The vast majority of participants who use wheeled mobility aids mentioned the Southgate Centre when asked ‘Where in Bath is easy to move around?’. In this clip Steve explains all of the reasons he loves the Southgate Centre, including smooth paving, plenty of room so he can avoid colliding with pedestrians, level access into the shops and space inside to move around. He also explains how being able to visit somewhere like this that is full of people makes him feel ‘Part of the community and part of what’s going on in life’.
Gary and Sue explain how the Southgate Centre is ‘one of the easiest and fairest places to go from a wheelchair point of view’.
Catherine explains how the Southgate Centre has the ‘perfect pavement’ but that it is a shame how the most accessible shops in the city are mainly aimed at younger people (who are less likely to be disabled), whilst many of the shops she wants to use are not accessible.
Opportunity
If the wheelchair accessibility of the rest of Bath city centre were improved by adding dropped kerbs or level areas, improving paving quality and providing level access to shops and restaurants wheel chair and scooter users would have a much greater choice of places to visit, shops to use and would be better integrated into the community.