FEATURED ARTICLE
Inclusive Play Centres by Vanessa Griffin Accredited Access Consultant
Vanessa has over 20 years in the construction industry working in a variety of roles from the certification of buildings to the undertaking fire safety upgrades to existing buildings. More recently as an accredited Access Consultant at Vista Access Architects. Vanessa has a passion and drive for access, not only as an Access Consultant but also in the role of Vice President on the Board of NADO (Nepean Area Disability Organisation), and the Disability Access Committee for the Blue Mountains City Council.
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s a mother of two children, an indoor play centre where kids can run themselves 'raggard' and I could sit back and watch them exhaust themselves whilst having fun, seemed like the perfect place. There was protection from the weather, I could grab a coffee and the kids would make new friends and play games with each other. These play centres seemed to be the perfect location, every other parent would rave about them. But, when you have a child with a disability, indoor play centres can be loud, overstimulating, and only for able bodied children, which removes the inclusive environment. As the Vice President of the Board for Nepean Area Disabilities Organisation (NADO), I had seen an interview with the owner of a new facility known as the 'Shine Shed' which is an all abilities play centre located in Campbelltown. I did some research and the concept sounded like a great idea, but it was approximately 45 minutes from Penrith and not readily accessible for the participants of NADO, or the local area of Penrith. There is also no direct public transport link from Penrith. I decided to pitch the idea to the NADO Board in a meeting. But with a different aspect to not
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just be a play centre for children with disabilities but make it welcoming and available to all members of a family and the community. We agreed as a Board that the concept and idea was something that could benefit the community. As part of the due diligence and strategic planning. NADO appointed an external contractor to undertake a study of the proposal of an inclusive play centre by researching existing play centres (not just inclusive ones), including location, size of facility, potential set up costs and what other centres did not offer. We decided to proceed with the proposal of an inclusive sensory activity centre and started researching for a location that would be big enough for the vision. A unit within a development, street appeal, parking and an accessible path of travel were key. The site was secured, plans were lodged and approved by Council and the sensory activity centre was on its way to being delivered to the community (delayed only by the COVID pandemic). NADO wanted the Centre to be different, and so with that in mind, an onsite café was included, available not only to the facility users but for
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