Access to public facilities a major concern
A fire that gutted a section of the Mental Health Centre (MHC) earlier this week has brought the issue of access for public service vehicles to public facilities into consideration.{{more}}
Last Monday night, local firefighters struggled to extinguish a fire at the MHC after a large fire tender, brought to the area, was unable to pass through the gate at the institution.
This has propelled Dr. Douglas Slater, Minister of Health and the Environment, to call on the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) to lead in checking access to all public facilities.
âI think one of the issues here might be a planning issue and building codes. I think we will now have to review the whole question of access to public facilities, especially. As you would appreciate, most of these were facilities for many years and they may not have taken into consideration such eventualities and access,â said Slater.
Slater said he now sees the sense in the Planning Division insisting that buildings must be set back 20 feet from major roads.
âLast night, had we had more space near to the road, the truck might have been able to turn and reverse into the area,â said Slater.
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