C&CDHB Mental Health Provider Facilities :

Transcription

1 Draft Report on : C&CDHB Mental Health Provider Facilities : Porirua and Paraparaumu Areas for : CAPITAL AND COAST DISTRICT HEALTH BOARD by : Wrightson Associates with AbilityDis Consulting April 2010 DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 1

2 1 Background 1.1 Task Requirements and procedures 4 2 Executive Summary 2.1 General General recommendations 8 3 Comment and recommendations by facility 3.1 Porirua, Whitby and Titahi Bay Champion Street, Porirua Champion Street, Porirua Champion Street, Porirua 4 142A Warspite Avenue, Porirua 5 142B Warspite Avenue, Porirua 6 144A Warspite Avenue, Porirua 7 144B & C Warspite Avenue, Porirua Bedford Avenue, Porirua 9 1 Ribbonwood Terrace, Porirua Bedford Street, Porirua Exploration Way, Whitby Hicks Close, Whitby & 65A Dimock Street, Titahi Bay & 67A Dimock Street, Titahi Bay & 69A Dimock Street, Titahi Bay Dimock Street, Porirua Te Pene Avenue, Titahi Bay Te Pene Avenue, Titahi Bay 3.2 Paraparaumu and Raumati Leinster Avenue, Raumati South 2 40 Leinster Avenue, Raumati South 3 42 Leinster Avenue, Raumati South 4 44 Leinster Avenue, Raumati South 5 63 King Arthur Drive, Otaihanga, Paraparaumu Manly Street, Paraparaumu 7 31 Bluegum Road, Paraparaumu 8 22 Anthony Grove, Paraparaumu 9 82 Kapiti Road, Paraparaumu 10 19B Milne Drive, Paraparaumu Kaitawa Crescent, Paraparaumu DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 2

3 This task, as commissioned by the Capital and Coast District Health Board (C&CDHB), was to assess thirty three of the residential premises and facilities of mental health service providers, funded by C&CDHB, for their potential to be up-graded to comply with the access requirements of the Building Act 2004, NZS 4121:2001, the Building Code and the Human Rights Act The facilities covered by this report were from the : 1 Porirua, Titahi Bay and Whitby Areas. 2 Paraparaumu and Raumati Areas. a) The Building Act under section 118 and Schedule 2 l) requires medical and dental surgeries, and medical and paramedical and other primary health care centres to ensure provision of reasonable and adequate access so that persons with disabilities can visit and work and carry out normal activities and processes in buildings. Under section 117 of the Building Act a building includes parts of a building (including driveways, access ways, passages within and between complexes and developments, and associated landscaping (if any): any premises or facilities. b) Also, Schedule 2 (j) requires hotels, motels, hostels, halls of residence, holiday cabins, groups of pensioner flats, boarding houses, guest houses, and other premises providing accommodation for the public to provide reasonable and adequate access for persons with disabilities. This section of Schedule 2 is relevant to this particular assessment as all of the buildings assessed are domestic dwellings leased by C&CDHB for accommodating / rehabilitating people with mental disabilities. In this respect, all of these buildings can be considered as other premises providing accommodation for the public and, as such, require a proportion of the total number of units to comply with access requirements 1. Given that the 33 facilities assessed comprised at least 50 dwelling units, at least 4 units (recommended 8) should be fully accessible. c) It should be noted that the access requirements are not retrospective but automatically apply whenever a building consent is sought. If a building consent is not required for any proposed fit-out of CCHDB Mental Health Provider facilities, requirements of the Human Rights Act 1993, under sections 42 and 43 (3), can still require compliance with the recommendations in this report. 1 Refer Table 2 (p78) NZS 4121:2001. DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 3

4 d) The access requirements address the coordinated interests of building users with disabilities with (and without) mobility aids such as walking sticks, walking frames, guide-dogs, crutches, wheelchairs (manually propelled and motorised) and motorised scooters and with a wide variety of visual, hearing and cognitive capabilities. They also cover the reality that most disabled people have combinations of impairments. From the 2001 and 2006 NZ censuses, this group comprises 17-20% of the population but is effectively universal as the remaining 80-83% of the population will all experience varying levels of impairment throughout their lifetime, particularly as they age, that will affect their ability to use buildings and connecting environments. e) The access requirements are implemented in practice through the accessible route which is... a route that is usable by people with disabilities. It shall be a continuous route that can be negotiated unaided by a wheelchair user, walking device or by a person with a guide dog. The route shall extend from street boundary and car-parking area to those spaces within the building required to be accessible to enable people with disabilities to carry out normal activities and processes within the building (from NZS 4121:2001 p13). The unaided emphasis is critical as the access requirement intend to provide the highest level of physical independence as possible. f) The basis for the assessment procedures in section g) below, follows the sequence of the accessible route and encompasses the approachability, accessibility and usability (from section of NZS 4121:2001) of the housing units and connections by measuring compliance in order of priority as follows : - accessible routes - car parks - footpaths, ramps and landings - entrances - corridors, doorways and doors - stairs - lifts - toilet and shower facilities - public facilities - surface finishes - signs and visibility factors - controls and fittings - places of assembly - alerting devices g) The Consultants prepared a building assessment schedule and a simplified assessment key for use on each building as follows : Site type : i steep ii sloping iii flat and combinations DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 4

5 i totally inaccessible no car parking no connection from car parking to building entrance(s) no connection from street boundary to building entrance entrance(s) with step(s) ii inaccessible sloping car parking possible connection from car parking to entrance(s) no connection from street boundary to building entrance entrance(s) with three or less step(s) iii marginally inaccessible no connection to street boundary possible connection from car parking to building entrance iv accessible exterior level car parking accessible route connection (gradient, surface finish, ramp and handrailing) connection from street boundary to building entrance entrance threshold no greater than 20mm high adequate approach space both sides of entrance threshold adequate clear opening of entrance door v accessible exterior and interior: internal circulation spaces, doorway clear openings and door hardware accessible toilet / shower provision surface finishes and controls (light switches and socket outlets) storage and accessible kitchen area Potential : i none ii possible iii good iv best no possibility of creating an accessible route to the building / dwelling from street boundary and car parking parking and connection to entrance could be created but house would require significant alteration to exterior approach, entrance and interior parking and connection to street boundary and to and through building entry can probably be created and there is potential to modify the interior parking and accessible route connections can easily be created to and through entrance and interior can be modified. h) After lengthy negotiations with various C&CDHB staff it was agreed to test the criteria above on the 33 buildings assessed in this report, from the Paraparaumu and Porirua areas. Procedures included: prior notification by C&CDHB to the service providers concerned about the project; DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 5

6 consultants google street view check of facilities; consultants site visit to photograph and make a street inspection of each building; regular verbal progress reporting to Maurice Priestley at C&CDHB. i) Production of this report. DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 6

7 The buildings in the Porirua, Titahi Bay and Whitby areas were mostly two or one-and-a-half storied and mostly on sloping sites while the Paraparumu and Raumati buildings were mostly single level and mostly on flat sites. The Paraparaumu facilities provided a significantly greater level of accessibility than the Porirua sample. Reasons for this include : Paraparaumu facilities were built more recently than the Porirua sample. The flat nature of the Paraparaumu sites is more conducive to providing good accessibility. Most of the Porirua facilities were two storied A number of the facilities, three in Porirua / Whitby, and five in Paraparaumu / Raumati had had some form of modification done to provide or improve accessibility. The more recently completed provisions for access were the best with respect to the access requirements in sections 1.2 e) and f) earlier. This is not unexpected given that the quality of implementation of accessibility requirements improves with time and that all the buildings were built as residential dwellings and not required to comply with the access requirements of the Building Act 2004 or its predecessor the Building Act The buildings assessed were between approximately 5 and 55 years old. The most common deficiencies were : no accessible route connection from street boundary to building entrance; no accessible car-parking provision; no accessible route connection from car parking to building entrance; inaccessible building entrances (including ramping, landings, thresholds and exterior surface finishes). These are all exterior elements of accessibility. As this task was to identify the most promising buildings with potential for up-grading to provide access, this report is based on assessing these exterior elements. Interior elements like corridors, doors and doorways, toilets and showers, kitchen facilities and so on, were not part of the scope of this task. Nevertheless, it is speculated that every building in this assessment will require significant internal structural alteration, in addition to exterior up-grading, to meet accessibility requirements. Detail on each building, with a recommended potential, is presented in section 3 below in the order in which they were assessed. From this detail the following facilities are recommended, in order of priority, for further assessment, to recommend additional improvements: DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 7

8 i 63 King Arthur Drive, Otaihanga, Paraparaumu ii 1 Ribbonwood Terrace, Porirua iii 22 Anthony Grove, Paraparaumu iv 143 Manly Street, Paraparaumu v 31 Bluegum Road, Paraparaumu vi 144c Warspite Avenue, Porirua vii 22 Exploration Way, Whitby viii 40 Leinster Avenue, Raumati South ix 44 Leinster Avenue, Raumati South. Such assessment needs to address connection from car parking and street frontage to building entrance(s) and interior accessibility It is recommended that the buildings identified immediately above be examined in more detail for incorporation into planned re-fit and general maintenance programmes and budgets for Mental Health Provider facilities administered by C&CDHB Identify someone within C&CDHB to be responsible for ensuring that these matters are addressed Utilise qualified independent access advice whenever it is necessary to check implementation of these recommendations. It is recommended that this report be retained by C&CDHB as a measure for any future access reviews. DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 8

9 3.1 Porirua, Titahi Bay and Whitby Champion Street, Porirua This is a 2 storey dwelling, adjoining the next door property. flat section totally inaccessible. No car parking and no connections to building entrance. 2-3 entry steps No access to upper level. none / possible Probably insufficient space to provide car parking and ramping Champion Street, Porirua This is a 2 storey dwelling, adjoining the next door property. flat section totally inaccessible. No car parking and no connections to building entrance 3-4 entry steps. No access to upper level. none. Insufficient space to provide car parking and ramping Champion Street, Porirua This is a single unit, 2 storey dwelling. flat section marginally accessible exterior. Car parking and connections to building entrance 2 entry steps. No access to upper level. possible to ground level. Space to provide car parking and ramping. No possibility of access to upper level A Warspite Avenue, Porirua DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 9

10 This is a single level dwelling, adjoining the next door property. sloping / flat section marginally accessible exterior. Car parking and connections to building entrance with front door entry steps and 3-4 back door entry steps. possible. Space to provide car parking and ramping. Will require significant site work to achieve accessible route B Warspite Avenue, Porirua This is a single level dwelling, adjoining the next door property (mirror image of 142A above). sloping / flat section marginally accessible exterior. Car parking and connections to building entrance front door entry steps. 3-4 back door entry steps. possible. Space to provide car parking and ramping. Will require significant site work to achieve accessible route A Warspite Avenue, Porirua This is a single level dwelling, adjoining the next door property. sloping / flat section marginally accessible exterior. Car parking and connections to building entrance 3-4 front door entry steps.. possible. Space to provide car parking and ramping. Will require significant site work to achieve accessible route B & C Warspite Avenue, Porirua Two single level adjoining dwellings, one in front of the other. Unit B is in front and C at back. DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 10

11 Unit B Unit C flat / gentle sloping section marginally accessible exterior to unit B. Car parking and connections to building entrance. 5-6 steps to front door and 4-5 steps to a back (side) door see picture below right.. possible. Space to provide car parking and ramping. Will require site work to achieve accessible route. flat section parking and double garage separate from the house. Entrance at back appears to be at ground level. Unfortunately vehicles parked in the driveway blocked access to this unit. Good. Appears to require minimal sitework. However, accessible route to street front remains problematic Bedford Street, Porirua This property doesn t appear to existent. The address seems to be part of a school or commercial building. 9 1 Ribbonwood Terrace, Porirua This property is a block of single level flats/apartments with a recreation hall on opposite side of site. flat section. almost accessible exterior. Car parking and connections to building entrance(s). One step in to each unit. Steps pictured far right do not appear to be part of accessible route. best. Car parking good and minimal work required to achieve exterior accessibility. DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 11

12 Bedford Street, Porirua These two properties are joined with an internal connection. They were assessed in the report on Maori Health Provider facilities by Wrightson Associates for C&CDH in October Modifications to provide accessibility completed about 15 years ago. flat section. accessible exterior with car parking, ramping and landings. possible / good. Will require some exterior up-grading and significant internal modification. Second storey will remain inaccessible Exploration Way, Whitby Single level, modern dwelling with drive on access. Appears to have split-level connection from garage to house entrance sloping / flat section. marginally accessible exterior. Car parking with 3 steps from driveway and garage but possible connection using footpath or ramping. Possible steps to front door entrance. good / best. Will require exterior up-grading and interior modification Hicks Close, Whitby One-and-a-half storey dwelling about 20 years old. flat section. Almost accessible exterior. Good connections from car parking / garage and street boundary to entrance. 3 small steps at entrance. However, there is no connecting public footpath. good. Minimal exterior work required but upper storey will remain inaccessible. DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 12

13 13 65 and 65A Dimock Street, Titahi Bay 65 and 65A are small single level dwellings. 65A appears to be a sleepout connected to the back of no 65. There is no immediate car parking but there appears to be possible shared parking with 67 Dimock Street. flat / gentle sloping section inaccessible. Insufficient space to achieve accessible route connections. none and 67A Dimock Street, Titahi Bay This is a two storey dwelling attached to the left of 69 Dimock Street, both of which are pictured right. 67 Dimock shares a common footpath entrance way with 65 and 65A Dimock. 67A Dimock was not able to be sighted and there did not appear to be any mailbox for it. flat / gentle sloping section inaccessible. Connections from car parking and street boundary are possible. 8-9 steps to front entrance with potential space for ramping possible. Will require some sitework to create exterior accessible routes but upper level will remain inaccessible and 69A Dimock Street, Titahi Bay 69 Dimock adjoins 67 Dimock, as a mirror image pictured above. 69A is a single level outbuilding behind 69 Dimock. They share a common footpath entranceway, pictured right, and a common parking area. flat / gentle sloping section inaccessible. Connections from car parking and street boundary are possible. 7-8 steps to front entrance of 69 Dimock with potential space for ramping. 69A has 6-7 entry steps but there appears to be insufficient space to perovide a ramped approach. possible / none. 69 Dimock will require some sitework to create exterior accessible routes but upper level will remain inaccessible. DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 13

14 16 71 Dimock Street, Titahi Bay This is a smaller two storey dwelling with drive on access and separate garaging. flat / gentle sloping section. marginally accessible. 2-3 entry steps at porch to the right of the property. Good parking area and space for ramping to entrance. possible / good. Will require some sitework to create exterior accessible route connections but upper level will remain inaccessible Te Pene Avenue, Titahi Bay A recently completed, stand alone, 2 storey dwelling with large drive on / car parking area. It has a long driveway connection running parallel and down to Te Pene Ave itself. gentle sloping section. marginally inaccessible. 5 steps to porch entry door. Has potential for level parking and ramped connection to entry possible. Will require some sitework to create exterior accessible route connections but upper level will remain inaccessible and street connection remains problematic Te Pene Avenue, Titahi Bay Te Whare Matatini Houora House is a 50 year old dwelling with a small upper level addition and modifications to provide accessibility completed about 15 years ago. This was assessed in the report on Maori Health Provider facilities by Wrightson Associates for C&CDH in October The dwelling has good potential, but will still require significant internal modification to comply with access requirements. DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 14

15 3.2 Paraparaumu and Raumati 1 38 Leinster Avenue, Raumati South A two level dwelling up a steep driveway. Lower level has a garage and upper storey is all one level. sloping / steep section. inaccessible. Currently has non-complying, long, dogleg ramp from sealed area in front of the garage up to entry door. No accessible route connection to street boundary and no footpath connection. none / possible. It is possible, with minimal sitework and ramping construction, to create an accessible route from car parking to entrance but connection to street boundary remains inaccessible Leinster Avenue, Raumati South Up a long steep driveway to a level area with several single storey dwellings and a medium sized, shared carpad. steep / flat section. marginally accessible exterior. Flat area at top of section with good connection from car parking to dwelling entries. No connection to street boundary and no footpath connection. possible / good. Dwellings and parking can have accessible exterior connection created with little sitework required but connection to street frontage remains inaccessible Leinster Avenue, Raumati South As for 40 Leinster, this is a long steep driveway driveway to a level area with several single storey dwellings and a medium sized, shared carpad. steep / flat section. marginally accessible exterior. Flat area at top of section with good connection from car parking to dwelling entries. No connection to street boundary and no footpath connection. possible / good. Dwellings and parking can have accessible exterior connection created with little sitework required but connection to street frontage remains inaccessible. DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 15

16 4 46 Leinster Avenue, Raumati South Two storey dwelling on a level area with steep driveway up from street. Has small car parking area in front. steep / flat section inaccessible. Possible connection from car parking to entrance. No connection to street boundary and no footpath connection. none / possible. Upper level will remain inaccessible King Arthur Drive, Otaihanga, Paraparaumu A semi rural property down a long unsealed driveway, Has a number of single level accessible flats with a large outdoor area and extensive car parking. Appears to have a communal dinning / recreation facility. flat section and driveway. accessible exterior (and possibly interior). Very good connection to unit entrances with good thresholds. However, driveway to street frontage is inaccessible because of gravel surface. While it may be possible for a powered wheelchair to negotiate driveway, there is no public footpath connection. best. Interior of units needs to be further assessed. Will require vehicle transport to access property Manly Street, Paraparaumu A single story dwelling on a flat section near the Paraparaumu beach front. Appears to share a driveway with the back property. Possible car parking at rear but cars parked on grass verge in front of house. Direct access to public footpath by a ramp up to the front door flat section. accessible exterior. Ramp and decking to a flush threshold. Interior may also be accessible. best / good. Interior of units and car parking need to be further assessed. DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 16

17 7 31 Bluegum Road, Paraparaumu The property is down a long drive (see picture right from google maps ). Property management were unaware of the assessment exercise and preferred that no photographs be taken. Appears to be a series of units or buildings on a flat section. At least one unit has a low short ramp leading to the front door. Extensive car parking available. flat section. appears to have an accessible exterior. Good car parking and potential connections to unit entrances. Connection to street frontage and public footpath is marginally accessible. appears to have best / good potential. Interior of units and car parking connections need further assessment Anthony Grove, Paraparaumu This property is up a gently sloping driveway but the site itself has no drive on access. The path, pictured far right, connects the 4 single level units with the driveway, which provides both vehicular and pedestrian access (i.e. there is no public footpath) to 22 Anthony and a back section. flat section. accessible exterior apart from lack of car parking. No space available to provide car parking. Single step ramps to entry thresholds. Planting obstructs path. best / good. Major deficiency is lack of car parking. Interior needs further assessment Kapiti Road, Paraparaumu A single level dwelling. Has a conservatory in the front with small ramp leading to it. Plenty of on-site parking. flat section. accessible exterior. Good accessible route connections from car parking and street boundary. best. Needs some minor sitework and interior needs further assessment. DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 17

18 10 19B Milne Drive, Paraparaumu 19B Milne Drive does not appear to exist. 19A, which is a commercial / retail outlet, is pictured right Kaitawa Crescent, Paraparaumu One-and-a-half storey dwelling with garage / basement on lower level. Sloping drive on with small level car parking area. sloping section. inaccessible. 3 steps from driveway to a path and a further steps to the front door. Possible space for extensive dog-leg ramping and deck at front.. none. Would require significant sitework and construction to create accessible route connection from car parking to front entry. Connection to street frontage remains inaccessible. DRAFT Report on : Accessibility Assessment of Mental Health Provider Facilities 18