Mole Valley Access Group
The Mole Valley Access Group is an outside body* that provides a forum for disabled residents in Mole Valley to raise and discuss the particular issues they face in accessing services provided by both public bodies and private businesses.
The purpose of the Mole Valley Access Group is:
- to promote the needs of disabled people in Mole Valley, principally focusing on access issues and lobbying providers to improve accessibility
- to raise awareness of the needs of disabled people
Membership and responsibilities
The group is made up of individuals who have direct experience of disability issues and representatives from a number of organisations across Mole Valley.
We also nominate up to three ward councillors (preferably reflecting the geography of the district); a MVDC member champion for people with disabilities and one officer.
Their role is to hear from the members about specific issues and to ensure these concerns and needs are fed back to the relevant bodies so they can be taken into account when planning and implementing services.
In summary the responsibilities of the group are to:
- offer practical advice to us, Surrey County Council and local businesses concerning disabled access
- review all relevant planning applications received by us for their disability implications and provide views to the council
- provide an open forum for raising issues relating to access issues
- provide a resource for external organisations to discuss disability issues
- contribute to our Equality Impact Assessments, as appropriate
- invite guest speakers to attend to discuss specific issues
- make accessible shop awards to a shop, restaurant or other publicly accessible service in the north of Mole Valley and a similar award in the south of Mole Valley which during the past 12 months has shown care in designing its facility and delivering its service with disabled people in mind
Meetings
The group meets on a bi-monthly basis with meetings being chaired by a district councillor.
Meetings are not public, but wider audiences may be invited for specific issues.
Other groups and individuals are welcome to join the group and they should contact the chairperson for details of dates etc.
If you would like further information or are interested in joining the Mole Valley Access Group, please contact the chairperson.
*The Mole Valley Access Group is an outside body and as such is independent from us. We provide limited administrative support to the group by providing a meeting venue and an officer to assist with agendas and take notes, something not usually undertaken for an outside body. There is no additional resource within the council to support the administration of the Mole Valley Access Group.