Old Town Hall | 15th July 2019

Accessibility Rating 

Physical 

Three out of five 

Sensory 

Five out of five 

Location: Old Town Hall 
The Shambles 
Stroud 
GL5 1AP 

Parking and Wayfinding

The closest public car park to the Old Town Hall is Church Street and has 4 accessible bays. These are free for up to 3 hours for blue badge holders. To get to the Old Town Hall you turn left from the accessible bays and take a small alleyway on the right, then the hall is on the right. The pathway is quite narrow and has a slight sideways incline.
The main entrance door to the Old Town Hall is very large measuring 1017mm wide and has ‘Town Hall offices’ engraved above it. This is the only signage on the outside and may be quite difficult to find at first, especially for people with a visual impairment.

Entrance

The main door is heavy and large, and a wheelchair user may have difficulty opening the door themselves. After entering Old Town Hall, the lift and accessible toilet is through a hallway on the right and the stairs are on the left. When entering, the lights turn on automatically. The narrowest part of the corridor is 760mm wide and leads to an automatic door with a push button entrance.

Lift

The lift is an enclosed platform lift, so only the floor moves. To open the door to the lift there is a large black button and the door opens outwards. The door does not remain open for very long and may cause a wheelchair user, who is on their own, alarm when it starts to shut. The doorway is 800mm wide which is 100mm below minimum requirements.
The buttons are large and easy to use and must be held down for the duration of the journey. The lift doesn’t make any alarming sounds.
The entrance and exit are at a 90-degree angle, which can make exiting in a wheelchair quite difficult and doesn’t leave much room for an assistant.

Function room

When exiting the lift, you turn left and then immediately right and ahead is the door to the function room. There is a fire extinguisher on the wall on the left that protrudes into the corridor.
The door is automatic with a push button entrance and opens outwards. The button is quite close to the door which means the door may open into a wheelchair users’ feet. Additionally, the button on the inside of the function room does not work and the door is heavy to open manually.
The function room is large with a capacity for 100 people. On our visit it was empty however there are tables and chairs that are easily moveable that can be used by people hiring out the venue. The floor and walls in the function room are of contrasting colour which aids the visually impaired.
There is a working hearing loop to the left when entering. There is good lighting in the function room, but the light switches are small and may cause difficulty for someone with limited dexterity.
At the other end of the function room there are two double doors that lead to the fire escape and kitchen; however, these are down two steps and there is no ramp available.

Kitchen

The kitchen is currently inaccessible for a wheelchair user as it has 2 steps down and 1 step up to gain entry.
It is a narrow kitchen and a wheelchair user would struggle to manoeuvre around it.

Accessible toilet

The accessible and male toilets are located on the ground floor and the ladies is on the first floor. The accessible toilet requires a RADAR key.
The doorway is 800mm wide which is 100mm below minimum requirements and the room is slightly too narrow which means that there isn’t enough turning space for a wheelchair.
The grab-rails are well placed and are the same colour as the walls. The toilet is the correct height from the ground at 48cm and the transfer space is on the right of the toilet when facing it.
The toilet roll is on the right as you are seated, it is below a grab-rail which means an individual will have to lean down to reach it, this may cause instability.
There is only one ring pull on the emergency pull cord at 10cm from the ground to the right of the toilet when seated.
All amenities are at a lowered height for a wheelchair user and the floor is non-slip. The toilet has good natural lighting and is kept clean and hygienic.