spook

Any word on this matter from offroad clubs in NSW. Liverpool, castle hill, st.ives, ryde or illawarra???
It seems like all other states have got things right, so what's gone wrong here?!

The K Factor

Hey Spook , it would seem you have an agenda here and can"t even recognise the positive replies and people trying to assist you in racing on a driver's stand that will fulfill your needs.

ajford

iTrader: (8)

Spook has asked a reasonable question....after all the man does live in NSW....and from what we can read on these threads at least one of the clubs (perhaps 2) mentioned in his most recent post are currently reviewing their stand to ensure it meets council requirements....so I for one see his postings as quite timely.

Is there an agenda? Of course there is....

The guy wants to race in his home state on a track with wheelchair access. That doesnt sound unreasonable to me.

Carlos69

iTrader: (4)

Nor me +1

doorz

iTrader: (2)

We at casso have made a chair access platform for club challenges....
If we get interest from your racers in chairs ,I'm sure I can knock something up at work,. No problem!!!!
Come down & have a run.

Cheers ..........................

nckmat

iTrader: (24)

It's pretty simple really MONEY, we are currently planning our new stand with negotiation between the club (Ryde) and council regarding the demolition of the old stand and the construction of the new one. It is our intention to allow for the addition of wheelchair access at a point in the future, but we cannot guarantee, at this stage of the process, that we will be able to include wheelchair access in the initial construction. We are also on a temporary reprieve from council to allow us to race and raise money to build a new stand, so time is not on our side.

After initial discussions with council if we were to meet the requirements of Australian Standards and local by-laws we would be looking at a cost 4 to 5 times greater than the cost of a stand without wheelchair access. We are a club of about 50 members and have a turn over , not profit, of less than $20,000 per year, a stand with wheelchair access is going to cost us about $35,000 to $40,000 to construct to the level required by council. We don't have that sort of money.

So to enable us to undertake such a construction we have to ask govt for the money (unless we find a philanthropist with a love of RC) and playing with toy cars is pretty low on the priority list for all 3 levels of govt. But that isn't stopping us trying.

By the way don't blame the current club for the promises you received in the past, we have only been running the club for less than nine months so there are a lot of things on our to-do list and very little money to do it with.

So if you want wheel chair access talk to the committees directly and find out what their reasons are first. If you want to help Ryde then make noise to our local members Maxine McKew [email protected] or Victor Dominello [email protected] and ask them for the money; we would appreciate the support.

Nick

Peli

iTrader: (4)

well said Nick.....it is important,but after talking to Dale the other day,we have to have wheelchair access paths from the main car park put in all the way to the drivers stand,plus modify the gate to let the chairs in....that then means that kids on 50cc pitbikes can get on the track and tear it up because they can fit through the gate too....plus the standards and codes for the building of the Wheelchair ramp go through the roof compared to a none chair drivers stand....
lots of money to be spent that we dont have.....

can see y yor pissed spook,the councils should have thought of this before when all the current round of stands got built in sydney...but they didnt,so im pretty sure most clubs will have there hands tyed because of the expense and red tape in it all....but,that doesnt mean people arent willing to try...im pretty sure i have seen a guy in a chair driving from the Ives stand or casso maybe....the boys just carryed his chair up there,then him...pretty sure i remember the bloke being rapped with the effort....good old aussie spirit hard at work that day

good luck,hope you get somewhere with yor enquiries

contact

iTrader: (2)

im pretty sure the anti-discrimination commission actually cares very little about capacity to pay... if your running a public facility then you might find that council are infact responsible for fixing the stand... i know at illawarra a youngster fell off the stairs to the stand and they went to council and it didnt take long for council to replace the stairs... the big stick sometimes works

mangoman

iTrader: (11)

Um are you sure you would have to modify the gate, i think from a common sense point of view noone is gunna expect someone in a wheel chair to be marshalling their on cars on a track. Thats disregarding the safety issues of having someone in a wheel chair trying to traverse the track, unless they are training for a para x-games or something crazy!

Unless you are talking about a different gate.

Peli

iTrader: (4)

we have a fence round the track with a open entrance in it,in front of the entrance is a BMX,Bike,pitbike barrier that is only a foot wide,most people have to turn sideways to get through it...we would have to modify that one

on race day we can unlock main gates,but i was talking about if we had a wheel chair stand,then we would need wheel chair access through the public gate....

i would be more than happy to marshall our wheel chair racers cars

OLD 69

iTrader: (44)

FYI for the clubs, in regards to wheel chair access if have a seperate side platform to fit a wheelchair with a ramp and call it a "control tower" you wont have the "other" issues that come with wheelchair access eg pathways all round the park leading to the ramps etc etc.

Maitlands loop hole to wheelchair stands .

...Ari

mangoman

iTrader: (11)

Oh i thought the fence was only around the track and not the drivers stand.

omen1975

iTrader: (5)

After speaking with our local councilor who happeneds to also be in a wheelchair, pointed out that most of the local business's in the CBD have access ramps/parking that are not to code and they have been given the ok under the "unjustifiable hardship" disability act.

http://www.equalaccess.com.au/The_DDA.php (section 11)

The DDA allows for service providers to develop Action Plans which set out what will be done, by when and by whom. Action plans can be lodged with the Commission and can be used as part of a defense of unjustifiable hardship should a complaint be made.

This was an interesting read - http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_r...ccess.html#BCA

We are currently going through the process of getting our access ramp engineered/certified/built as mtbkym stated before.

Our vice president actually found out recently which was interesting, that if you build something that is not to code and is deemed by the council illegal (like an extended unstable 12 foot high nieghbours fence), that there hands are tied if the person/s who built the structure are using a private certifier, because when using a private certifier you have 2 years to have it certified.

Another sign we have noticed that council use here is an wheelchair assist sign (person standing behind a wheelchair) for inclines that are steeper than the ridiculous 1 in 14 code (14m of ramp for every 1m of incline) which I think was designed for the elderly using walking frames. For example if your drivers stand is 3 meters high you would need 42m of ramp and have a platform every 9m.

In my opinion in this situation the DDA standards actually make access harder for the wheelchair bound.

For me I know what spook is going through and if he is anything like me "the challenge ain't on the track" cant wait for our accessible drivers stand so I can kick some butt.

Goodluck spook will keep intouch.

spook

That's great info. I haven't started this thread to piss people off or clubs. I just want to get it out there that there are alot of guy's in chairs that have become paralysed from motor racing and riding moto. I try to promote rc racing through the spinal rehab centre in Ryde, but there is just no tracks to point them to. People who have just become paralysed doing something that they love and know they will never do again is very hard to come to grips with. Rc racing is a fantasic way of getting back into the racing side of life, especially nitro. So my agenda is to make it aware to clubs in Australia and especially NSW to try and get access to the people who have had there lives completely shattered and want to be apart of something other than wheelchair sports.
Well that's my rant, could go on for ages but that's for another day.

doorz

iTrader: (2)

All good,
People are aware & posting their opinions,,,,,,,,,,:
It will all come out in the wash
Bring your offroad to casso on sunday,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
I'm sure you'll be alright..

Cheers,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,