Residents with disabilities, including family members and friends who support them, face barriers that prevent them from fully participating in daily activities and community life. To decrease barriers and improve overall community accessibility, the Town of Smithers, in partnership with the Smithers Public Library, is developing an Accessibility Plan.
Are you a person living with a disability, or do you work or support individuals with disabilities? Are you a Smithers resident passionate about improving community inclusion? We want to hear from you!
First-hand experiences and ideas for improvement from our residents play an important part in developing our Accessibility Plan. This information will help identify gaps and barriers that currently exist while helping us to reduce or eliminate future barriers in Smithers.
Ongoing engagement with the Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee and staff from the Public Library and the Town is a critical component of this project. Phase 1 engagement was conducted from March 15 - April 28, 2023 -- which included a Community Accessibility Survey and an Organizational Accessibility Survey for Town and Public Library employees. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENGAGEMENT SUMMARY REPORT.
Based on the feedback received from the community, the Accessibility Advisory Committee, and staff, the project team has developed a Draft Accessibility Plan available HERE. As part of this process, the project team also updated the Accessibility Assessment of various Town facilities and parks, which was first completed in 2016 as part of developing the Town’s Age-Friendly Assessment and Action Plan.
At this point, the Town is inviting your feedback on the Draft Accessibility Plan, by participating in this online survey. Printed copies of the survey are available at the Town Hall and Public Library. The survey closes at 4 pm on Friday, September 22, 2023. Please drop off completed paper surveys to the Town Office or the Smithers Public Library. We appreciate your help!
The development of the Accessibility Plan will be shaped by the Town of Smithers Accessibility Advisory Committee, feedback from community engagement, and Smithers Council. Contents of the plan will align with the Accessible BC Act that will be updated every 3 years.
Contact Deepa Chandran, Planner, at 250-847-1600 or dchandran@smithers.ca if you have any questions about the project.
Resources:
- Accessible British Columbia Act
- AccessibleBC: BC’s Accessibility Plan
- Smithers Age-Friendly Assessment and Action Plan (2016)
- Smithers Accessibility Advisory Committee Terms of Reference
- Accessibility Baseline Report
- Staff Report DEV 23-030 (Accessibility Project Update)
- Staff Report DEV 22-112 (Accessibility Plan Contract)