Access Advisory Panel
The Access Advisory Panel, which met for the second time in February, is one of four Advisory Panels providing advice to the Department on issues and trends in the building sector.
The panel is made up of leading professionals who are closely involved with the provision of access and facilities for people with disabilities. Its fundamental role will be helping the Department tune in to access issues at an early stage, then seeing that those issues are addressed.
As an advisory group the panel will not assume any of the powers or responsibilities of the Chief Executive. A paper is being prepared for the Department summarising the panel’s views on the Building Act 2004, and on the strategic implications of access issues relating to the Building Code.
The panel
Alexia Pickering (Chair) is an educator. Her focus on the accessibility of the built environment has created a wide contact network involving the building industry, the travel industry, the international community, and the disability sector at national and local level. Alexia has served on both the New Zealand Council for Recreation and Sport and the former Building Industry Authority, and was recently awarded the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM).
Simon Tonkin is the principal officer (Building Code) for the Invercargill City Council. The role involves overseeing a team of seven building and plumbing inspectors and the issuing of around 2500 building consents per year. ‘I have a passion for ensuring buildings are built to the Code and that their facilities are easy to use – which, if accessibility requirements are met, makes a building easier to use for all people.’
Minnie Baragwanath is the disability adviser to Auckland City. She is a member of the National Executive Committee of Disabled Persons Assembly (DPA), the DPA executive committee and the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind. Minnie also worked for Inside Out, New Zealand’s only disability TV show, as a reporter/presenter for 6 years.
Wyn Hoadley, QSO is a former mayor of Takapuna City Council, long-serving executive member of Building Research New Zealand, and the inaugural chair of the BIA. She served as Chancellor of Auckland University of Technology from 2001 to 2005, and chairs the Finance Committee of the Auckland Regional Council and the National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee.
Ron Pynenburg is a Wellington architect with over 20 years’ experience. He is a principal of Pynenburg and Collins Ltd, a life member and past president of the New Zealand Institute of Architects, and an adviser to the Barrier Free New Zealand Trust. His areas of expertise include statutory compliance advice in relation to the Building Act and access issues.
Bill Wrightson is the principal of Wrightson Associates. He has had 33 years’ professional and consumer involvement (as a quadriplegic wheelchair user) in the design and construction of Barrier Free and Safe built environments. Bill has audited over 1600 buildings for accessibility and completed numerous other commissioned advisory, design, research and teaching tasks in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.
Dr Jan Scown is the Director of the Office for Disability Issues. This Office was established in 2002 to lead disability policy advice across government, and to promote and monitor the implementation of the New Zealand Disability Strategy. Before this, Jan was Chief Executive of the Community Living Trust, a Hamilton-based agency that supports people with an intellectual disability and their families.
Vivian Naylor is a staunch advocate of disability access, serving as a Founding Trustee of the Barrier Free New Zealand Trust. She is an accredited Barrier Free Advisor and runs training workshops on the topic for both the Trust and CCS, where she is currently employed as Disability Awareness Co-ordinator.