South West Access and Inclusion Alliance

Mr Aldridge addressed the City of Busselton council last week to kick start calls for a South West Access and Inclusion Alliance which would see representatives from local governments and the community work together to achieve common goals.

Mr Aldridge said with an aging population, and one in five people experiencing an impairment, the South West faced major challenges to ensure people continued to visit, live in and move to the region.

He said the challenge was exacerbated by reduced funding, a lack of geographic research and inconsistent standards across the South West.

"While each council has an associated budget, these budgets are often siloed and not sufficient in size to make any meaningful progress to resolve this challenge," he said.

"The short term goal would be to foster dialog between local governments on access and inclusion to reduce the existing siloed culture in this area. To share knowledge, stop reinventing the wheel and to form a network with common goals."

City of Busselton mayor Grant Henley supported the idea and invited Mr Aldridge to attend a South West Local Government Authority Zone meeting.

Mr Henley said the city were required to have access and inclusion plans and had a committee which engaged in public consultation to steer planning and infrastructure developments.

"We have had good practical measures come out of the committee, one of which was the fencing of the playground at Rotary Park, which was a request from the South West Autism Network," he said.

In Bunbury, councillor Brendan Kelly said they had a program called the Most Accessible Regional City in Australia, which aimed to make Bunbury the most accessible regional city in Australia by 2020.

Mr Kelly said they set up a scholarship with Edith Cowan University for PHD student Adam Johnson to make recommendations on what Bunbury could do to make themselves MARCIA.

"We have pursued this with a vengeance and we have a co-design committee who have experience in people with disabilities to help us design things in Bunbury so we do not design people out," he said.

"It is a given that I support Mr Aldridge, Bunbury has led the way on access and inclusion, so any alliance or cooperation that occurs in the South West is a no-brainer to support that type of initiative.

"There is 25 per cent of our community who live with some sort of disability and for all people, it is a fundamental human right to be involved in what happens in our community without barriers.

"The more people who are able to partake in all things economic, social, cultural and environmental the more advantage there is to the collective.

"It does not matter if you are born with a disability, acquire one, if you are getting old and have a bung knee, or are younger and do your ankle at hockey and are living with a disability for a while.

"If all of those people are participating in what happens in the community they are contributing either by buying something or going out to seeing something or having a restaurant meal or buying some clothes.

"In doing so they inspire other people - people with disabilities who achieve are absolutely inspirational to other people and that is what makes our community go around."

City of Busselton councillor Coralie Tarbotton sits on the city's Disability Access and Inclusion Committee which includes members of the community who experience challenges.

"They provide us with a lot of information about what is lacking and what works in our community," she said. 

"I am sure the alliance would be very much supported, one of our priorities is to make sure we have good access and inclusion for all of our community no matter what their limitations or restrictions are.

"A recent project we completed was a ramp down to the beach in Dunsborough and we are putting in a bid for more access wheelchairs which can go onto the beach."

Have your say: How can Busselton and Dunsborough be more inclusive for everyone? Email editorial.bdmail@fairfaxmedia.com.au.