I have been wheelchair-bound for a few weeks following surgery. When ever I had to go out. my overriding thought were about the availability of suitable parking and toilets. The lack of both caused me considerable anxiety.
Returning to work in a wheelchair was a nightmare as far as access to toilets was concerned. Two of the most easily accessible disabled toilet areas were used for storage. Another was up a steep ramp. Yet another had a door so heavy I needed help to open it - couldn't get enough traction in a wheelchair.
I wonder how Luxon would think after a couple of weeks in a wheelchair (masked so no-one knew he was and jumped to fulfil his every wish). He'd maybe realise just how tough daily life is when you are disabled.
This casual cruelty directed at the disabled community is just a side hustle to National and NZTaxpayers Union attacking councils in general, promoting distrust and denigrating anything to do with kindness/empathy is the new ‘Three Waters’
Thanks Dr Bex — but I wish you didn’t have to write about this.
I love your calls to action.
Nothing short of a full retraction and public apology, plus a major government donation to Changing Places, and targeted funding for every territorial authority (local council) to install at least 100 of these facilities nationally in the next 12 months, can make up for this despicable cruelty and blatant attack on everyone’s fundamental human rights and right to dignity.
How wonderful Wellington has a fantastic Changing Places accessible bathroom. I can only guess that comments about these bathrooms being 'woke nonsense' are made from ignorance - by those who have never needed an accessible changing room or bathroom. More and more New Zealanders need these facilities - people managing colostomies, people (many many people) living with bowel and bladder management needs, people recovering from surgery, people with disabilities. These needs are normal and a daily reality for many New Zealanders, and tourists too. If only the Prime Minister and others would take a look, and consider why these places are so vital, they would get it quickly - they just have to take the time to understand.
Actually these toilets are inaccessible still but because of the lighting show council designed & used. Rather then design for accessibility they designed for a statement light art piece when the actual statement should have been equity in access for disabled people (which from the cost of the lighting we could have had more accessible toilets instead). This is a demonstration of how council wastes more money on luxury elements that in the end makes things less accessible and still removes the functionality for disabled people to a space. How Wellington council spends more on the luxury art pieces then the actual difference in cost from accessible to non accessible toilets. Claims that the expense is solely just the cost of the accessible toilet is merely painting a target on accessibility infrastructure for disabled people; all done for no reason other then a designer's art ego & Wellington council's push for form over function.
I hope when Christopher Luxon has had radiation therapy for prostate cancer that gives him both fecal and urinary incontinence, and he is trying to have a nice day in town with his grand kids but suddenly feels a large bowel movement coming on and there's no public toilet nearby and he ends up having to be driven home swathed in shit and shame and other people's hastily borrowed coats, that he recalls how he thought public toilets were "woke nonsense".
Clean and accessible and safe public toilets are a basic necessity for any town or city Centre. It should be available to anyone day or night, with no quibbling!!
They also don't realise (or perhaps want to admit) bike paths are roads, only necessary to separate motor vehicles from more vulnerable road users, and give access to many who don't drive.
As someone with Spina Bifida and Multiple Sclerosis who has incontinence issues and suffers from severe anxiety when it comes to going to public places because of the possibility of not having access to an accessible toilet, I think this is awesome and should absolutely be the norm.
I also think the PM and government's response is disgusting, although not all the surprising, given the way they have treated disabled people and the people who care for them since coming into power.
🤬 How predictably cruel & out of touch 🤢 Leaving aside those who have a long-term disability of any sort that requires accessible spaces (only for the purposes of the argument, but not REALLY leaving them aside!) , as others pointed out everyone else is ONE EVENT away from finding out the same. Yes I have suddenly found myself in a wheelchair, and relatives the same or others needing a walker to go everywhere (which don't fit in standard toilets of old). Even when I am an able-bodied traveller, I find myself identifying & planning toilet stops on trips to town, long road trips etc. - how restrictive it is if you can't go out & about JUST BECAUSE of a lack of suitable toilets etc - unacceptable in this day & age, and money well spent 💪 Actually, able bodied people also benefit if all the "normal" stalls are in use & there's no-one wanting the accessible one - I always make sure I am as quick as possible, but in practice these stalls benefit ALL residents./travellers/PEOPLE 🤷
This article is written from the perspective of someone with no lived experience of being in Wellington with different disabilities. It is very clear that Dr Bex has no experience in designing for accessibility because the exterior of this toilet block is hugely inaccessible and harmful to many with common conditions. I guess it is easy to claim you are for inclusion while being completely on the side of exclusionary and hostile urban design. Try looking up accessible lighting and important factors for accessible spaces for starters because from the outside it is clear Wellington designers never did and they just palmed the interior off to someone else and thought that was all the accessibility that was needed while blowing more money on a light show that literally causes more physical pain and increases falls risks. Slow clap for demonstrating why it is so difficult to get accessible urban design across to councils; they are literally being celebrated for their failures and in creating inaccessible spaces by people who are clueless.
What has deliberately put a target on future accessible toilets was the waste in money for lighting design that was an artistic, (functionally useless) statement piece rather then the actual significant statement of it being one of the very few places that had accessible toilets in Wellington. The lighting choices are terrible for general visibility and difficult to navigate around at night; especially difficult with neurological conditions playing havoc with sight. Yet through the statement artistic lighting overspend, (that actually removed the functionality of the lights for disabled people, including large shadowed ground space directly in front of it due to poor lighting design), it has put in the public's mind that these facilities are overly expensive and considered wasteful. Whereas the actual accessible toilet cost alone was hardly more expensive then the non accessible ones in comparison. We might have more built accessible toilets if they did not waste so much on an artistic light show that detracts from the essential functional need. We certainly would experience less push back from other community members in future requests if council were not more focused on expensive artistic statements over providing equity for the necessary accessible services and amenities. We certainly would have more functional and accessible lighting to provide visibility, especially of the ground around the block, that would certainly hurt a lot less, if they ditched the artistic light show. This lighting is terrible to even find out how to open the doors. You can tell they got an idiotic ableist to design the lights as they did not think how people who have disabilities and medical conditions might need to navigate, read instructions, enter details and open doors. Especially they did not think how bad having coloured lights shining directly into your eyes but not making the ground or interactive elements clear might affect navigation and interacting with doorways. Geez "but it looks pretty" is not good enough if you are designing for accessibility first and foremost.
I have been wheelchair-bound for a few weeks following surgery. When ever I had to go out. my overriding thought were about the availability of suitable parking and toilets. The lack of both caused me considerable anxiety.
Returning to work in a wheelchair was a nightmare as far as access to toilets was concerned. Two of the most easily accessible disabled toilet areas were used for storage. Another was up a steep ramp. Yet another had a door so heavy I needed help to open it - couldn't get enough traction in a wheelchair.
I wonder how Luxon would think after a couple of weeks in a wheelchair (masked so no-one knew he was and jumped to fulfil his every wish). He'd maybe realise just how tough daily life is when you are disabled.
This casual cruelty directed at the disabled community is just a side hustle to National and NZTaxpayers Union attacking councils in general, promoting distrust and denigrating anything to do with kindness/empathy is the new ‘Three Waters’
Thanks Dr Bex — but I wish you didn’t have to write about this.
I love your calls to action.
Nothing short of a full retraction and public apology, plus a major government donation to Changing Places, and targeted funding for every territorial authority (local council) to install at least 100 of these facilities nationally in the next 12 months, can make up for this despicable cruelty and blatant attack on everyone’s fundamental human rights and right to dignity.
How wonderful Wellington has a fantastic Changing Places accessible bathroom. I can only guess that comments about these bathrooms being 'woke nonsense' are made from ignorance - by those who have never needed an accessible changing room or bathroom. More and more New Zealanders need these facilities - people managing colostomies, people (many many people) living with bowel and bladder management needs, people recovering from surgery, people with disabilities. These needs are normal and a daily reality for many New Zealanders, and tourists too. If only the Prime Minister and others would take a look, and consider why these places are so vital, they would get it quickly - they just have to take the time to understand.
Actually these toilets are inaccessible still but because of the lighting show council designed & used. Rather then design for accessibility they designed for a statement light art piece when the actual statement should have been equity in access for disabled people (which from the cost of the lighting we could have had more accessible toilets instead). This is a demonstration of how council wastes more money on luxury elements that in the end makes things less accessible and still removes the functionality for disabled people to a space. How Wellington council spends more on the luxury art pieces then the actual difference in cost from accessible to non accessible toilets. Claims that the expense is solely just the cost of the accessible toilet is merely painting a target on accessibility infrastructure for disabled people; all done for no reason other then a designer's art ego & Wellington council's push for form over function.
I hope when Christopher Luxon has had radiation therapy for prostate cancer that gives him both fecal and urinary incontinence, and he is trying to have a nice day in town with his grand kids but suddenly feels a large bowel movement coming on and there's no public toilet nearby and he ends up having to be driven home swathed in shit and shame and other people's hastily borrowed coats, that he recalls how he thought public toilets were "woke nonsense".
😱👍💯👏👏👏
How I see it is the PM is trying to cover up for the water infrastructure mess they have made, some wool pulling going on.
Clean and accessible and safe public toilets are a basic necessity for any town or city Centre. It should be available to anyone day or night, with no quibbling!!
They also don't realise (or perhaps want to admit) bike paths are roads, only necessary to separate motor vehicles from more vulnerable road users, and give access to many who don't drive.
As someone with Spina Bifida and Multiple Sclerosis who has incontinence issues and suffers from severe anxiety when it comes to going to public places because of the possibility of not having access to an accessible toilet, I think this is awesome and should absolutely be the norm.
I also think the PM and government's response is disgusting, although not all the surprising, given the way they have treated disabled people and the people who care for them since coming into power.
Wanting and Nefarious Knuckleheads.
This is the name I return to describe Luxflakes and his cronies WANKS - Wanting And Nefarious Knuckleheads.
🤬 How predictably cruel & out of touch 🤢 Leaving aside those who have a long-term disability of any sort that requires accessible spaces (only for the purposes of the argument, but not REALLY leaving them aside!) , as others pointed out everyone else is ONE EVENT away from finding out the same. Yes I have suddenly found myself in a wheelchair, and relatives the same or others needing a walker to go everywhere (which don't fit in standard toilets of old). Even when I am an able-bodied traveller, I find myself identifying & planning toilet stops on trips to town, long road trips etc. - how restrictive it is if you can't go out & about JUST BECAUSE of a lack of suitable toilets etc - unacceptable in this day & age, and money well spent 💪 Actually, able bodied people also benefit if all the "normal" stalls are in use & there's no-one wanting the accessible one - I always make sure I am as quick as possible, but in practice these stalls benefit ALL residents./travellers/PEOPLE 🤷
This article is written from the perspective of someone with no lived experience of being in Wellington with different disabilities. It is very clear that Dr Bex has no experience in designing for accessibility because the exterior of this toilet block is hugely inaccessible and harmful to many with common conditions. I guess it is easy to claim you are for inclusion while being completely on the side of exclusionary and hostile urban design. Try looking up accessible lighting and important factors for accessible spaces for starters because from the outside it is clear Wellington designers never did and they just palmed the interior off to someone else and thought that was all the accessibility that was needed while blowing more money on a light show that literally causes more physical pain and increases falls risks. Slow clap for demonstrating why it is so difficult to get accessible urban design across to councils; they are literally being celebrated for their failures and in creating inaccessible spaces by people who are clueless.
What has deliberately put a target on future accessible toilets was the waste in money for lighting design that was an artistic, (functionally useless) statement piece rather then the actual significant statement of it being one of the very few places that had accessible toilets in Wellington. The lighting choices are terrible for general visibility and difficult to navigate around at night; especially difficult with neurological conditions playing havoc with sight. Yet through the statement artistic lighting overspend, (that actually removed the functionality of the lights for disabled people, including large shadowed ground space directly in front of it due to poor lighting design), it has put in the public's mind that these facilities are overly expensive and considered wasteful. Whereas the actual accessible toilet cost alone was hardly more expensive then the non accessible ones in comparison. We might have more built accessible toilets if they did not waste so much on an artistic light show that detracts from the essential functional need. We certainly would experience less push back from other community members in future requests if council were not more focused on expensive artistic statements over providing equity for the necessary accessible services and amenities. We certainly would have more functional and accessible lighting to provide visibility, especially of the ground around the block, that would certainly hurt a lot less, if they ditched the artistic light show. This lighting is terrible to even find out how to open the doors. You can tell they got an idiotic ableist to design the lights as they did not think how people who have disabilities and medical conditions might need to navigate, read instructions, enter details and open doors. Especially they did not think how bad having coloured lights shining directly into your eyes but not making the ground or interactive elements clear might affect navigation and interacting with doorways. Geez "but it looks pretty" is not good enough if you are designing for accessibility first and foremost.