Access is not just about ramps.
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Date of visit: May 2015
I have experience of challenges around: dexterity or coordination and moving around.
Overall Rating
Bad
A pointless three-hour round trip on a stuffy evening, as there was no access information on the venue website, and the 'Blue Badge space' pointed out by staff when we arrived turned out to be a red route bay that could only be used between 10am-1pm or after 7pm (the event began at 6pm).
Disabled Access In and Around
0While trying to park it was apparent that the building next door to Peckham Platform, which was being used by the gallery to show part of the installation that we had come to visit, had a doorway that was too narrow for a chair to pass through. This despite it having level entry and clearly being constructed after the DDA came into force.
Parking & Transport
0The venue is part of a brand new complex including Peckham Library, and is surrounded by a vast pedestrian area. However, despite the entry to the square stating that anyone other than Blue Badge users and library suppliers would be clamped, there were no marked Blue Badge bays within the square and the library staff had no suggestions - we couldn't drive round hunting due to the danger of running over pedestrians. When I phoned the venue I was directed to a red route bay which only after I and my wheelchair had been unloaded did we discover could not be used at the time of the event.
Accessible Toilets
0I had to cross my legs till I got home again as I couldn't access the building.
Staff
0The team member who answered the phone was very sweet but knew nothing about the location of the nearest Blue Badge parking at all, and the incorrect information she gave us subsequently from a colleague will have landed me with a large fine if we were caught on CCTV. She was also surprised when I pointed out that the sole doorway to the installation as it continued next door was inaccessible to me.
Additional Information
The fact that the venue is on a red route means that taxis can't drop off either, affecting a wide range of disabled people including people with visual impairments. The nearest carpark is much further away than anyone can walk to qualify for a Blue Badge. The development clearly breaches the Equality Act 2010 but is typical of new London cultural developments in refusing to cater for Blue Badge and taxi users.
