Access Audit - Westonbirt Arboretum

• Posted by Ian Eggleton on 10th May ’10 at 08:51 BST
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Access Audit Case Study of world renowned Westonbirt Arboretum

Evans Jones Access were appointed to complete an Access Audit of the renowned Westonbirt Arboretum as part of a review of their customer service. The Access Audit included both the arboretum and the various buildings housed on the site which include a restaurant, The Great Oak Hall, shop, visitor centre and various other facilities.

The Arboretum offers a unique challenge to disabled visitors simply due to its scale with the site covering some 600 acres. Part of the Arboretum is set on relatively level land but much is accessed by relatively steeply sloping paths due to the overriding topography of the site.

Clearly there was little that we could do about the sloping ground but, after walking every yard of the miles of paths and track around the arboretum we were able to identify the most accessible routes around the centre. The Arboretum were advised to produce a map of the most accessible routes with details of slopes and surfaces in order to allow disabled visitors to plan the most suitable route.

This approach empowers the individual by giving the visitor sufficient information to make their own informed decisions. We tend to avoid being too prescriptive with such maps and guides as this pre judges a users abilities i.e. such as ‘wheelchair accessible routes’.

In addition we encouraged the Arboretum to look at ‘off road’ mobility scooters which could be used on the rougher tracks and other unmetalled areas.

Evans Jones have completed DDA Audits of a number of outdoor and countryside settings such as; The National Memorial Arboretum, Staffs, Ragley Hall Gardens, Warwickshire, Hergest Croft Gardens, Herefordshire and Burford Golf Club. .

Click on the link to read more about DDA Audits or contact me by email or phone on 01242 531413.