15^th September 2017

Accessibility

When arriving at Gloucester Park there is accessible parking located on Park Road which is a two minute walk from the park entrance. There is pay and display roadside parking and also double yellow lines which would have been suitable for my blue badge, however; there were no dropped kerbs so that I could safely access the pathway. St Michaels car park is also a 10 minute journey in a wheelchair however, there are uneven broken pathways which aren’t ideal for a wheelchair

There were a few entrances into the park which were even and easily accessible. The pathways around the park were fairly smooth for my wheelchair, there were a few gravelled areas but I was able to access most of the park.

There are lots of nice areas within the park including a play park for children, grassy picnic areas, monuments, flowerbeds, a bird enclosure, a ping pong table (own equipment required) and rugby posts. There is a small café within the grounds however, this wasn’t open when I visited the park and I wasn’t able to find out the opening times.

 

Toilets

There is an accessible toilet which requires a RADAR key. This is located next to the bird aviary. There is no sign outside the toilet to indicate that there is an accessible toilet and I missed it at first. I have since met with David Pritchett, the Open Spaces Strategy Officer for Gloucester Park. He advised me about the accessible toilet and informed me that they will have clearer signage in future.

The toilet was large enough for someone to assist a wheelchair user and all facilities including sink, hand dryer and toilet roll dispenser were at an appropriate height. The toilets were clean and hygienic.

David also advised me that he will also look into the parking issues within the surrounding area and speak to the relevant people to see if we can get this issue resolved by adding some accessible parking spaces and also dropped kerbs. Hopefully the Council and Gloucestershire Highways will look into these issues ASAP. I will update the site with any changes in the future.

Accessibility Rating