Groomsport Accessible Beach

Overview

Making Groomsport an inclusive and accessible beach?

Ards and North Down Borough Council is exploring the possibility of creating an inclusive beach, where people of all abilities can share and enjoy seaside activities. This will be in partnership with the Mae Murray Foundation.

An inclusive beach is an area that provides for the needs of a range of users of all ages and will provide many with the opportunity to walk or access the sand via use of special equipment at the site.

Changes that could be made in Groomsport include:

• Redeveloping the existing toilet block to create an accredited “Changing Places” toilet and shower as well as a store/maintenance area for the beach accessibility equipment
• Installing a graduated ramp, compliant with buildings regulation, to make it possible for beach wheelchairs to access the beach
• Re-configuring a small section of the carpark to improve accessible parking

Via the Mae Murray Foundation, we anticipate purchasing six pieces of equipment including beach chairs and beach walkers to cater for a range of sizes and abilities.  The booking arrangements for any available equipment will be managed by the Mae Murray Foundation.

The periods and hours of operation will be dependent on the demand for the accessible beach; partly determined by the feedback received in this questionnaire.

As use of beaches in Northern Ireland is determined by weather this beach is complimented with other amenities that will suit the family group and provide additional activities including play area, picnic/barbeque benches, short walks and a paddling pool.