By ROY WOOD

The Social Planning and Research Council of BC (SPARC BC) wants Oliver council to create an advisory committee on accessibility issues and to contract the council to conduct an audit.

SPARC BC representatives Janet Bednarczyk and Mike Stiles appeared before a council committee meeting Monday to plead the case for a local committee and to propose that SPARC BC be contracted to perform an accessibility audit for the town.

The pair told council members that cost of a SPARC BC-run audit would be between $10,000 and $15,000.

Stiles said that area MLA Linda Larson is on side with the effort and that she is exploring possible sources of funding for the project.

Bednarczyk said the hope is that Oliver could become a model for small-town accessibility.

SPARC BC is a registered advocacy group headquartered in Burnaby and, according to a brochure provided to council, has been involved in “a range of accessibility audit projects” around the province in recent years.

The group says it has experience assessing municipal buildings and facilities, parks, sidewalks, public attractions and even private businesses. It concentrates on accessibility to parking, entranceways, service counters, washrooms, signs, seating and elevators.

SPARC BC audits take into consideration the needs of people with physical disabilities, vision and hearing impairment and intellectual, developmental and learning* disabilities.

Council forwarded the request to staff to study it and make recommendations on further action.

* Spelling corrected. Thanks to those that communicated