Wicklow Mountain National Park
Wicklow Mountains National Park is an invaluable recreational space, with over one million visitors per year, and a site for the conservation of local biodiversity and landscape. The Disability Act 2005 and the Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government’s Sectoral Plan clearly outline the legal obligations on the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to make buildings, information and services at Wicklow Mountains National Park (WMNP) accessible to all users.
To fulfil this commitment, the NPWS recognised that an access and signage audit is the first step to ensure access can be improved to make the Park more enjoyable and safer for everyone to use. The WMNP engaged O’Herlihy Access Consultancy, in collaboration with Fionnuala Rogerson Architects, to assist the Park in meeting its legal requirements, to benchmark accessibility and provide advice on how to develop an access strategy, policy and plan.
Our work included:
- Provision of access consultancy services for WMNP between October 2009 and June 2010;
- An accessibility appraisal of facilities and services at Wicklow Mountains National Park for the National Parks and Wildlife Service;
- A review of WMNP’s current level of accessibility in relation to all levels of service and information provision including access auditing of buildings, sites, trails, information and communication technology, customer services, products and signage throughout the park;.
- Preparation of final report to NPWS highlighting the main findings of the study, conclusions and high level recommendations and strategies to make the park fully accessible;
- Provision of briefings and presentation to staff within the park;
- Provision of advice in relation to public consultation and how to mainstream accessibility;
- Provision of staff training to the WMNP Access Team which covered relevant disability legislation (including the Disability Act 2005, along with building control and equality legislation) and how to deliver an accessible service;
- Provision of advice on how to develop an access policy and implementation plan, including aims and objectives of the plan, key content, timeframes, responsibilities and more; and
- Provision of support and advice on completion of the project.
