What Is Accessibility Planning?
Accessibility planning is a way of working with other organisations in order to identify and solve local accessibility problems. For example, assessing whether people can access services such as employment, education, healthcare, food shopping and leisure facilities, and establishing a course of action if they cannot.
The concept of accessibility planning was introduced in the Social Exclusions Unit's report ‘Making the Connections' (February 2003) which related to transport and social exclusion. Accessibility planning is designed to promote social inclusion by helping people from all walks of life to access jobs, education, health, food, leisure and other essential services.
Accessibility is not just about transport. The location of services and the way that services are delivered have a significant impact on accessibility. This means that partnership working between transport authorities and organisations delivering key services, such as healthcare, education and employment is vital to ensure that accessibility problems are identified and appropriate solutions put in place.
