DISABLED people can now use a widely-used accessibility key to use the Changing Places Toilet facility at Royal Victoria Place.
Following concerns that access was controlled by a keypad which initiated a call to security to open it, the facility can now be accessed by RADAR key, said Tunbridge Wells and Area Access Group committee member Alan Bullion.
RADAR keys form part of a universal access scheme, which opens over 10,000 disabled toilets across the UK.
“I went in on Friday (May 26) and was pleased to see RADAR key access had now been installed and it was nice and clean too, as it should be,” Mr Bullion said.
Thanking the shopping centre management and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC) for action, he said users had contacted the Access Group over what he called a “vital accessibility issue”.
Changing Places toilets are designed for use by disabled people who need specialised facilities when they are out and about. They are larger, accessible toilets for people who cannot use standard accessible toilets, with equipment such as hoists, curtains, adult-sized changing benches, and space for carers.
One such Changing Places toilet was originally installed at the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council-run Gateway building on Grosvenor Road, which closed when services were relocated to The Amelia.
Funding for the relocation of the facility was awarded last year to TWBC from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ Changing Places public toilets initiative.
The Changing Places facility is located near other toilets on the lower level, by the Meadow Road Car Park entrance to Fenwick.
