Agenda item

Agenda item

Peterloo Memorial

Report of the Director of Strategic Development

 

This report provides an update on the implementation of the Peterloo Memorial, and progress on the work undertaken to determine the most appropriate solution to ensure it is fully accessible.

 

Minutes:

The Committee received a report of the Director of Strategic Development which provided an update on the implementation of the Peterloo Memorial, and progress on the work undertaken to determine the most appropriate solution to ensure it was fully

accessible.

 

The Executive Member for Skills, Culture and Leisurereferred to the main points and themes within the report, which included:

 

·         Update on the design;

·         Update on the Council’s processes for access consultations; and

·         Current position.

 

Brian Hilton from the GMCDP informed Members that the campaign to make the Memorial accessible had received support from disability rights campaigners, the general public and public figures, as well as receiving media attention and he thanked the Committee for their continued interest.  He informed Members that the information in the report was broadly accurate but that he wanted to clarify a few issues.  He reported that the campaigners’ preferred option was to add a ramp to the memorial and that, while they did not want the memorial to be demolished and re-built, they believed that a complete re-design should remain an option if there was no other suitable alternative.  He also expressed concern about the option of building a lift to the top of the memorial, highlighting that a number of lifts within the city centre were out of order.  He reported that campaigners would also like the option of a bridge to the top of the memorial to be considered.  He advised Members that they would also welcome the opportunity to be more actively involved in this work rather than just being asked to comment afterwards.  He also commented that it was important that decisions were not made hastily and that disabled people were involved in the design and consultation.  He reported that the campaign group was producing an advice note on consulting with disabled people which they hoped the Council would adopt.  He expressed the group’s commitment to working with the Council, not only on the memorial, but on improving the Council’s engagement with disabled people and ensuring that accessibility was embedded into its projects, policies, practices and procedures.

 

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

 

  • To thank the campaigners for having brought this issue to the Committee’s attention earlier in the year and to welcome that, following the involvement of the Scrutiny Committee, the Council was now working to address this;
  • To ask for further clarification on how the disability campaigners would be involved in the design process and in improving Council processes;
  • That the Committee would receive a report on the broader issues around embedding accessibility into the Council’s processes in a future report;
  • Whether a see-through ramp had been considered to enable access while ensuring that the memorial was fully visible; and
  • Whether the memorial could be fenced off in the interim when large-scale events were held to ensure people weren’t using it until it was fully accessible.

 

The Development Manager informed Members of the discussions he had had with Mark Todd, another disability campaigner with expertise on accessible designs, regarding the design options for a ramp and confirmed that he was happy for Mark to liaise directly with the architect.  The Equalities Specialist advised Members that the disability campaigners would be fully involved in the work to improve the Council’s processes in relation to accessibility.

 

The Development Manager reported that he had asked the architect whether a see-through ramp would be possible.

 

The Ward Councillor for Deansgate welcomed the commitment to finding a solution to this issue.  She also welcomed the broader work to review the Council’s approach to accessibility issues and asked if this would include consideration of the impact on disabled people of transport changes in the city centre caused by temporary events.  The Equalities Specialist confirmed that it would.

 

Geoff Bridson, a Manchester resident, asked if other groups involved in the campaign for and creation of the Peterloo Memorial, such as historical groups, would be involved in the discussions about the memorial.  The Development Manager informed Members that representatives of the Peterloo Memorial Campaign Group had attended one meeting and he would ensure that they were kept involved.  Dennis Queen from GMCDP informed the Committee that the disability campaigners had been keeping in touch with the Peterloo Memorial Campaign Group over this issue.

 

In response to a question from Brian Hilton, the Executive Member for Skills, Culture and Leisure confirmed that the Council would look at all options, including the bridge which they had suggested.

 

The Executive Member for Skills, Culture and Leisure stated that the memorial would not be fenced off in the interim.  Dennis Queen reported that the campaigners did not want the memorial to be closed off and that, while they had asked other campaign groups to stand with them in solidarity at the bottom of the memorial during political gatherings, they did not expect members of the public to avoid standing on the memorial.

 

Decisions

 

1.            To note that the Committee will receive a report on embedding accessibility into the Council’s processes at a future meeting.

 

2.            To continue to monitor this issue.

Supporting documents: