16 September 2003: Naas Town Hall is to be made wheelchair accessible within the next few months. Councillors are anxious to start the work as soon as possible and have been shown preliminary drawings of the proposed new wheelchair ramp at the front of the building.
Mayor Cllr Pat O’Reilly said a number of motions seeking wheelchair access to the building have been put forward by members over the years and this is an ideal opportunity to get the work done, especially as it is the Year of the Disabled and while the Town Hall is undergoing extensive refurbishment.
Engineer John McGowan said if the plan was agreed in principal, they could have an architect look at it and come back with a pleasing design.
Cllr Timmy Conway proposed they proceed with the job as they had been waiting over ten years for such a ramp. He didn’t think it necessary to see the finished design while Cllr Willie Callaghan said in the design stages the Council’s architect should be in contact with the local Access Group to find out their views on the matter.
Cllr Anthony Egan voiced his ‘absolute astonishment’ that councillors were prepared to agree a design without seeing the final plans. “It’s beyond belief,” he exclaimed. He said the railing at the front door as shown in the plans would look ‘horrendous’.
Cllr Seamie Moore called the preliminary design ‘impressive’. He had previously complained about the chain system at the front door which he said is ‘intimidating and should be got rid of’. He wants a proper flagpole on the building and fire exits from the Council Chamber.
Acting town clerk Fiona O’Neill said the Council is ‘moving the existing two front doors out and are putting in an automatic door inside, as well as fire escapes’.
Cllr Charlie Byrne was glad to see a local authority ‘showing by example’. But he wanted high footpaths in areas of the town, such as St Conleth’s Place, to be made wheelchair accessible. “I asked for this to happen a long time ago as the disabled are finding it difficult to get through this town,” he stressed.
The Mayor said the Town Hall ramp will be in ‘long before Christmas’. He agreed with Cllr Egan that the railing as shown in the preliminary drawing should be removed as it would take from the appearance of the Town Hall.
All agreed to have a relook at the finished drawings.
Mr McGowan said the Council will discuss the issue with the Naas Access Group. He said the front elevation would match into the existing structure and look an integral part of it. He hoped to proceed with the work ‘before the year is out’.
Town manager Tommy Skehan said he would ask Kildare County Council’s senior architect ‘to have a look at it’.
Cllr Mary Glennon then reminded the officials that when a disabled toilet was installed in the Town Hall ‘people in wheelchairs were not able to get ito it because the door opened the wrong way’! She asked that the European expert on access mobility in Kildare County Council be consulted saying: “We should not be rabbiting on here when there are experts in Kildare County Council available.”
After the meeting, Cllr Charlie Byrne said he had forgotten to mention that there is no wheelchair ramp outside Naas Court House. “People in wheelchairs, perhaps following an accident, have to be carried up the steps into the building. Why wasn’t a ramp provided when the Court House was being upgraded years ago?” he asked. “Even people on crutches have to walk up the steps to get into the building.”
