Accessibility advocates Dave and Marg Hodgins’ efforts to provide access to places for people with mobility challenges have met with a positive resolution.
Dave and Marg have been lobbying local governments to provide accessibility to amenities such as parks for their son Michael, who requires a wheelchair for mobility after a stroke. Haywire Bay Regional Park on Powell Lake now has a wheelchair-accessible trail that goes from the parking lot to the gazebo and winds its way to the waterfront along a scenic trail.
Marg said she is impressed.
“Before, with the lip around the gazebo, there was no hope for anyone using wheels to access it,” she added. “We can now freely access it. We and other families with disabilities can now get to the beach, enjoy the fresh air, the views, watch kids playing, have a pleasant afternoon, have a picnic and really enjoy ourselves. They can get to the far beach now and observe, or participate, as their abilities let them.
“I have just got to say I am really impressed with the job so well done. It’s going to make ours and our son’s quality of life, and others with disabilities, much more pleasant and accessible.”
Marg said her family is looking forward to being able to make use of the facility when the park opens again in May.
She said that Michael, when he was younger and on his own before he had his stroke, and became disabled, would go to Haywire Bay regularly and spend hours on end, watching the kids play and having fun, having a picnic.
“These improvements have allowed that to happen again,” said Marg.
She said qathet Regional District manager of operational services Patrick Devereaux and his crew took an idea and they did a “totally amazing job.”
“The surface they’ve put down, once it compacts more, is going to be easy to push the wheelchair along and get to where we want to go,” said Marg.
In addition to people with mobility issues, the improvements will be welcomed by families with young children who are using strollers to get to the beach, she added.
“It’s an overall improvement to increase access for everybody,” said Marg. “We live in an area with a lot of hills and a lot of uneven surfaces, and we understand fully that not everywhere can be made accessible for people with disabilities. This is a great starting point.
“We can’t remedy everything that has happened in the past but we can use this as something to look forward to. Hopefully, we’ll get a few more areas where we can do it. Michael doesn’t need to go everywhere, but it’s nice to have some opportunities for him to get out and enjoy the outdoors.”
Marg said her family is looking forward to enjoying the surroundings when the park opens.
Dave said this the first park in the qathet region where people can take someone in a wheelchair safely.
“It’s a big step for our community,” he added.
Winter work
Devereaux said the regional district operational services crew did all the work on the surfacing.
“It was based on some advice given to us by the Hodgins,” said Devereaux. “We made some improvements here and I want to thank Dave and Marg for providing that advice, and helping us improve the usability and accessibility of our parks.
“It’s wheelchair accessible right to the beach, but it’s also accessible for people including our senior citizens and people with strollers. It makes it much easier to travel.”
Work was completed at the end of January. Devereaux said the crew always has a work plan for the winter shutdown, so there’s always maintenance to be done at the parks.
“We fit this in with our planned maintenance,” added Devereaux.
Dave and Marg wrote correspondence about the matter to the regional district, which was reviewed at the March 10 committee of the whole meeting.
“On behalf of our son Michael, ourselves and the residents of the qathet Regional District, we would like to thank you for the improvements at Haywire Bay,” they stated. “We met with Patrick Devereaux to review the previously discussed plans to improve the walkways to the gazebo and beach. These improvements to walkway access allow people with mobility issues to enjoy the gazebo, the beach and the point.
“While doing the review with Patrick, he repeated comments that it was not a big deal and was in the budget; it is a big deal. Now the residents have one park where they can take their loved ones for a day on the beach and have a picnic.”
The couple stated they hope this is a start to recognizing the need to improve accessibility to most parks and other infrastructure.
