Inclusive Access Workshops - South Hams

Working in partnership with South Hams District Council's Coast and Countryside service the Sensory Trust has been running workshops with a wide range of disability and Countryside access and management stakeholder groups examining issues related to inclusive access to the rich and varied landscape of this corner of south Devon.

Workshop 1

Over thirty people gathered at the South Dartmoor Centre in Ivybridge to engage in a day of constructive discussion and presentation.

The workshops provided the opportunity for a range of special interest groups to meet with a common goal. The forum and structure of the workshop insured that each group thought inclusively of other user group needs. There was a commonly held view that this was a particularly successful element of the workshop that promoted understanding between different interest groups.

The workshops threw up a range of thoughtful and innovative proposals. The key issue which the feedback returned to was the provision of information; not just when they had reached the site, but in particular before they actually visited in order that they would be able to decide whether it was suitable for them and what arrangements (if any) they would need to make beforehand. It was the overwhelming opinion of the workshop group that the element of inclusive consultation with stakeholders and potential beneficiaries of this work was maintained at all stages of the project design and implementation process.

It is planned that together South Hams District Council, the Sensory Trust, and the stakeholder and beneficiary groups, will carry out site specific evaluations of key case studies, using the feedback from the workshop. It is hoped that these studies will lead directly to ‘best practice’ pilot access projects being implemented on site.

| Read about workshop 2 |