Waihi Beach resident Jacqui Whyte with husband Hemi hopes the initiative will inspire other communities. Photo/Louise Lambert
Waihi Beach resident Jacqui Whyte with husband Hemi hopes the initiative will inspire other communities. Photo/Louise Lambert
New beach mats which provide those with disability issues to access the beach safely were opened at the north end of Waihi Beach last Sunday.
Young Kathryn Hazeldine cut the ribbon to officially open the new accessibility beach mats assisted by her mum, Jo Liddell from Rotorua.
The Accessibility BeachMats project to raise $40,000 for the mats was started a year ago by Dave MacCalman, from the Halberg Disability Sport Foundation and Cindy Clare from Waihi Beach Events and Promotions.
The cost was for 80m of accessibility matting with installation and parts — the final section of the mats was installed recently.
Kathryn Hazeldine gets ready to cut the ribbon to open the beach access mats with mum, Jo Liddell from Rotorua. Photo/Louise Lambert
Dave was to be one of the speakers at the opening ceremony but had a fall out of his chair. Cindy said he wanted the opening to proceed to get the message out there and open up the mats as soon as possible.
Dave was missed and sent his good wishes through a short quote: "This is by far the biggest step I've seen that Waihi Beach has taken to improve and open up beach access from all the years I've lived here.
"It's monumental for myself and all others that love the beach and simply want to enjoy it too. We hope this is the start of a change in mindset for other communities to follow suit."
Instigators of the beach access mats - Cindy Clare and Dave MacCalman at the start of the project, are thrilled the mats are ready for summer. Photo/Cassandra Sharp Photographer
Waihi Beach resident Jacqui Whyte spoke of the challenges of not being able to take her husband Hemi onto the beach to enjoy it with his family.
Hemi has lived at Waihi Beach for several years and has not been able to access the beach until now. She said how much it means to her whole family and Hemi and how it will bring change and joy to those with mobility issues.
Jacqui also thanked all involved for their generosity. She hopes this initiative will inspire other communities to review and improve their accessibility in all areas.
Western Bay councillor for Waihi Beach Allan Sole speaking at the opening. Photo/Louise Lambert
Western Bay councillor Allan Sole spoke on behalf of Waihi Beach. He said it was so important that every person had the same equal rights to access the beach safely and thanked the sponsors, naming them all.
In particular Cindy thanks Beach Contractors who donated their time and staff to work on the project. In addition Western Bay of Plenty District Council extended the mobility ramp next to the toilets up to the beach mats, to enable complete access from the carpark onto hard sand for wheelchair users.
