Developed through the hard work of a dedicated citizen advisory committee, the first-ever action plan to remove barriers in the Town of Yarmouth is being put into action

Monday, March 28th, 2022 - Yarmouth, N.S. – After a full year of hard work, the Town of Yarmouth’s Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) is releasing the town’s first-ever Accessibility Action Plan. A recent presentation of the plan to Town Council was well-received, and council gave final approval to adopt it at a special council meeting last Thursday.

The AAC was formed last January in response to Nova Scotia’s 2017 Accessibility Act. The act required public sector bodies to develop accessibility action plans by the spring of 2022. The AAC delivered on that requirement with a detailed plan that will see the town do its part towards becoming an accessible province by 2030. Working closely with Town of Yarmouth staff, the AAC built the plan to identify accessibility barriers the public face in five key areas:

1. When using municipal buildings or public spaces (the “built environment”). This means making public buildings, streets, sidewalks, and shared spaces accessible to all.
2. When accessing goods and services. This ensures that people with disabilities have equitable access to goods and services they need.
3. When receiving communication and information so that all people can receive, understand, and share the information they need.
4. When using public transportation - making it easier for everyone to get where they need to go.
5. When applying for employment. This is to ensure workplaces are accessible, and supporting people with disabilities in finding meaningful employment.
   
   

The 25-page action plan outlines achievements made to date in each of these five areas, and also points to the barriers found within each area. Each section of the plan also lays out actions that will be taken to remove the barriers over time, and establishes clear policies and timelines to follow moving forward.

In order to identify barriers, the committee adopted a two-part process: formal audits and public consultation. The audits helped discover barriers in the built environment. The process involved a full examination of Town-owned buildings, parks, and trails to uncover accessibility issues. The first audits completed uncovered barriers and helped determine what actions needed to be taken to remove them.

The community consultation process took place throughout the year, as the committee members enjoyed discussions and presentations from many community members facing accessibility issues. The committee also conducted a survey and held a virtual conference on the topic of accessibility within the town. Both allowed community members to tell their stories about the barriers they’ve faced. The committee received tremendous input and first-hand experiences, all valuable in helping form the final action plan.

AAC Chair Stephen Nicholl spoke proudly of the efforts made by the AAC to build the plan.

“I’m personally very proud of this action plan as it represents an important milestone toward creating a barrier-free community in Yarmouth,” said Nicholl. “We have an amazing group of individuals who came together to form this committee, and work very hard to deliver a thorough plan to help the town become more accessible in coming years. There is still lots of work to be done, but this plan represents a new starting point, and something to build upon.”

“On behalf of council, I’d like to thank the committee volunteers and staff who worked to bring this great plan together so quickly,” said Mood. “We are also grateful to those who participated in the community consultations. An effective action plan must have input from people with first-hand experiences around accessibility. This plan is an important step forward for the town in recognizing where we come up short serving people with disabilities, and how we can begin to fix those shortcomings.”

The action plan is now available to the public. To view the PDF action plan document CLICK HERE. To view the PDF community consultation report, CLICK HERE. You can find them in the "Documents" section in the top right-hand corner of this page. If you require a paper copy of the plan and/or supporting documents, copies are available at town hall, 400 Main Street.

About the AAC

Appointed Elected Official Members

Councillor Derek Lesser
Councillor Gil Dares

Appointed Members At Large

Steve Nicholl (Chair)
Jane Walker (Vice Chair)
Sherrie Graham (Secretary)
Tracy Holmes-Carbonell
Laurie d’Entremont
Tania Boudreau
Peter Hansen

Ex Officio Members

Mayor Pam Mood
CAO Jeff Gushue
Accessibility Co-Ordinator Natalie Smith

The Town of Yarmouth's Accessibility Advisory Committee is developing an Accessibility Action Plan. The plan will identify accessibility barriers the public experience when using municipal buildings or public spaces, accessing goods and services, receiving communication and information, using public transportation, and applying for employment. A successful plan needs input from community members like YOU, especially if you are a person living with a disability or someone working with individuals with disabilities.

The Committee is hosting a virtual conference and you are invited to participate and offer your point of view. You will be able to answer important questions and share your first-hand experiences on accessing public spaces and receiving goods and services from the Town of Yarmouth. The information gathered will play an important part in developing the Accessibility Action Plan.

The conference will be held on Tuesday, September 21st at 7 pm. Please register today by clicking here!

Tri-County Vanguard. 8 Sep 2021, TINA COMEAU TRI-COUNTY VANGUARD

Even if the Town of Yarmouth’s Accessibility Advisory Committee looks at every sidewalk crack, studies every blade of grass, and measures every piece of playground equipment, it’s still going to miss something when it comes to identifying all of the needs and barriers that people with disability and accessibility issues face.

So says committee chair Stephen Nicholl.

Which is why, he says, upcoming community engagement and input will be so important in helping the committee to formulate an accessibility action plan for the town.

“If the public can come together and say this is where we need change, or this is not working for us, that will help,” he says, saying the committee is looking at the overall situation from a variety of disability and accessibility needs.

“We’re looking at mobility issues, visual issues, hearing issues, autism, and so on. We’re going to miss something along the way so it’s important to have the community reach out to us,” Nicholl says. “Then we can look at what’s not working and how do we fix it.”

Nicholl notes, for instance, that he’s lived in Yarmouth most of his life and only three months ago did he learn of the presence of public washrooms on Killams Wharf. While it’s good to have facilities he says, it’s not good if the public doesn’t know they exist or where to find them.

The town’s citizen advisory committee got to work over seven months ago. It was formed in response to Nova Scotia’s 2017 Accessibility

Act, which mandates public sector bodies to develop accessibility action plans.

The committee is largely made up of people with disabilities, or people who work with those who have disabilities.

The action plan is scheduled to be completed and released next year. It will identify priorities to tackle right away, but work will also be an ongoing process.

There has been legwork completed by committee members and town staff and there has been some public input to date. But now the official public engagement is a vital part of the process.

The committee is looking at several areas, including how accessible things are when:

people are using municipal buildings or public spaces;

people are accessing goods and services;

people are receiving communication and information;

people are using public transportation;

and, people are applying for employment and working in workspaces.

Coun. Derek Lesser, one of the elected representatives who is on the committee, says it is very important for them to hear from people about their lived experiences when it comes to accessibility issues.

“My mom, being in a wheelchair, she often will say, ‘They did something to make things accessible but they didn’t consult people in a wheelchair.’ There are different types of wheelchairs and then there’s scooters, which are all different sizes,” he says, saying while those constructing a ramp might think they’ve found the ideal solution for creating accessibility, they may have missed something in the design that wouldn’t be obvious to them but would be to someone who experiences accessibility issues.

Adding to that, Lesser says, parents and caregivers would also have good feedback for the committee to take into consideration.

Identifying barriers is being done by the committee through a two-part process: a formal audit and the public consultation. The audit has seen town staff working on a full examination of townowned buildings, parks and trails to determine accessibility and issues with the built environment. The audit had also involved recommending improvements and a schedule to achieve them.

Natalie Smith serves as accessibility coordinator for the town on the committee. She says whenever new infrastructure projects are carried out in the town – like the streetscape project or road infrastructure – the town incorporates the new, and required, built environment standards into the design.

Municipalities can also go beyond what’s called for, or the province itself can direct municipalities to do more than what the current standards call for.

With any discussion also comes the issue of grandfathering things in. That can be tricky, particularly when it comes to the private sector since as a municipal unit you’re trying collectively to be as accessible as you can be.

“If some things are already existing, unless it’s a safety hazard, which we would enforce, you’re not necessarily going to look at changes,” Smith says. “But when they come in to do renovations or new construction, then the standard of the day would apply to them.”

While it may be expensive to be proactive and make changes, businesses have to ask themselves if they’re losing business if their places aren’t accessibility, and/or how that is also a disservice to their customers.

“I think businesses will have to make that decision,” says Smith. “Should I still have my business on the second floor if I can’t put in a lift or an elevator or provide some sort of ramp to accommodate my clientele? In some cases they may have to consider, am I in the right building?”

She says the action plan also will take into account that fact that tourism is big part of the economy, as you want to ensure visitors with accessibility issues are also properly being served and treated, in addition to the local population.

And then there’s the fact we all age and what may not be an accessibility issue for us today, could be one in the future, she says.

Nicholl himself is hearing impaired and experiences respiratory issues. He notes COVID measures, while necessary, have highlighted accessibility issues and downfalls.

It can be difficult enough to be in a store or restaurant and hear people talking with music playing (often too loud), he says, but throw in masks and plexiglass into the mix and the issue is more pronounced.

Yet while eventually the masks will go away, the issue of accessibility is one that will always be present.

“No one in Yarmouth should ever experience a barrier to goods and services, or transportation or parking lots or whatever the thing may be,” Nicholl says. “No one should encounter a barrier because of their accessibility issues.”

Wednesday, July 28th, 2021 - Yarmouth, N.S. – After just six months of working together, the Town of Yarmouth’s newest citizen advisory committee has completed an impressive amount of work. The Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) was formed in response to Nova Scotia’s 2017 Accessibility Act, which mandates public sector bodies to develop accessibility action plans. While the long-term objectives and goals of the AAC are broad, developing an accessibility action plan is the first task.

The action plan is scheduled to be completed and released next year. Much of the legwork needed to build the plan is has been completed by committee members and town staff. The AAC has a target to present the finished plan to Yarmouth Town Council in early 2022 for review and adoption. The plan will identify accessibility barriers the public experience in the following key areas:

1. When using municipal buildings or public spaces (the “built environment”). This means making public buildings, streets, sidewalks, and shared spaces accessible to all.
2. When accessing goods and services. This ensures that people with disabilities have equitable access to goods and services they need.
3. When receiving communication and information so that all people can receive, understand, and share the information they need.
4. When using public transportation - making it easier for everyone to get where they need to go.
5. When applying for employment. This is to ensure workplaces are accessible, and supporting people with disabilities in finding meaningful employment.

Identifying barriers is being done through a two-part process: a formal audit and public consultation. The audit has staff working on a full examination of Town-owned buildings, parks and trails to determine accessibility and issues with the built environment. The audit also involves recommending improvements and a schedule to achieve them. The process is well underway, with the audit of the Town Hall building now complete.

Community consultation will begin in September and will allow community members to provide valuable input on the barriers they’ve faced. Through direct consultation, residents can provide first-hand experiences on accessing public spaces and receiving goods and services from the Town. A variety of consultation options will be available to the public to participate including virtual meetings, focus groups, hand-written input, as well as opportunity to provide input through the Town’s “Get Involved Yarmouth” online engagement platform. People’s stories and experiences will play an important part in developing the action plan.

AAC Chair Stephen Nicholl is excited about the work being done to develop the action plan.

“There’s been some hurtles to clear in the beginning with COVID-19, but we worked around them and we are off to a fast and productive start.” Said Nicholl. “As we get closer to completing the audit process, we are looking to soon get much-needed input from the community. We need to hear from people about their experiences. As the town adds and replaces new infrastructure, it’s important to determine all of the issues and barriers so that they can be outlined in the action plan. The plan then serves as a guide for council and staff for all future development.”

Nicholl adds that the committee aims to use a wide lens to determine both the types of disabilities as well the barriers people face.

“As Chair of the group I have always aimed to make sure we look at a diverse range of accessibility issues, from neurodiversity, to mobility and sensory issues. We want to make sure we look at every aspect of Yarmouth from the perspective of all types of disabilities people face so we can better determine anything and everything that might be considered a barrier. We want a future where anyone with accessibility issues will have equal access to as many aspects of life in Yarmouth as possible.”

Committee members are largely made up of people with disabilities, or people who work with those who have disabilities. Committee Vice Chair Jane Walker see this as a major plus.

“It’s really important to our committee, that in addition to ensuring we are inclusive of all disabilities and access needs when completing our work, we have also worked hard to make sure that many of our projects are spearheaded by disabled people or people working in that profession,” said Walker. “It is a priority of ours to have these discussions and our accessibility plan be truly representative of the large disabled population in our town.”

More details on the public consultation process will be made available in coming weeks. The AAC encourages everyone – especially those with disabilities or those work or live with individuals with disabilities - to get involved in the consultation process and tell their stories.

For more information, including videos of past meetings, provincial accessibility legislation, AAC Policy and more visit www.accessibleyarmouth.ca

Building a barrier-free Yarmouth

New committee looking to break town barriers, build up accessibility

• The Southwest Wire
• 28 Apr 2021
• Sara.Ericsson@saltwire.com SARA ERICSSON THE SOUTHWEST WIRE