A councillor has welcomed alterations to improve facilities for disabled customers at a busy Caerphilly town pub.
Labour Councillor James Pritchard, who represents the Morgan Jones ward, recently spent a week in a wheelchair as part of his role as Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Equalities Champion.
One of the places that came in for criticism was the Malcolm Uphill pub on Cardiff Road.
Following his experience, Cllr Pritchard met with management of the pub.
Owner JD Wetherspoon has since erected signs to the disabled entrance and installed a bell outside the entrance for customers requiring the assistance of a staff member. Due to the location of the building and its close proximity to the pavement, full disability access to the front of the pub is prohibited by building regulations.
Cllr Pritchard said “I’m pleased that the Malcolm Uphill is now equipped with proper signage indicating the disabled entrance and I’m happy that further signage is currently being ordered.
“The newly installed bell is very clear and alerts staff members should any disabled customer require assistance entering the building. All in all I feel that positive changes have been made and I thank the management for taking these concerns on board and acting on them.”
Steve Jordan, Area Manager for JD Wetherspoon, said: “We go to great efforts to ensure that people with disabilities can visit our pub. The work carried out at the pub means that access is now easier for people with disabilities.
“We are pleased that our actions have been recognised by Cllr Pritchard.”
This is all well and good but the method of how this come about isn’t conducive to the Social Model of Disability, Speaking to wheelchair users who experience these barriers every day would have been more useful than the pseudo disability experience.
This is good news but, unfortunately, there are plenty of establishments that need appropriate Access for wheelchair users.