NO less than 81 businesses have made it impossible for many people with disabilities to access their premises at all.
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The startling number was discovered by Bathurst Regional Access Committee (BRAC) chairman Bob Triming when he was delivering pamphlets in the central business district on Sunday night with his wife.
The pamphlets they were handing out were to promote the Bathurst Access Improvement for Small Business grants. They had 24 to slip under doors and soon ran out.
"There was 81 inaccessible businesses just in the main CBD area and that didn't include vacant ones," Mr Triming said.
"We've now asked council to print another 50 brochures for the ones that we missed.
"We were actually astonished."
The 81 premises only account for places where someone with a wheelchair, walker or physical impairment couldn't get in through the door. It doesn't account for internal issues, such as steps or narrow walkways.
What some businesses may not realise is that it doesn't take much to make a building inaccessible.
"Any step or protrusion over three millimetres, simply because anyone with walkers can't get over 3mm and that is a trip hazard as well," Mr Triming explained.
"Of those 81, most of them had a step of 21mm or more. And that 81 only relates to people getting in the door."
The good news is, businesses do have an incentive to make their buildings more accessible: the cash grants.
Successful applicants can receive a grant from Bathurst Regional Council up to $5000 on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
There is a total of $15,000 available in the fund, which sadly has never been fully exhausted.
"While there is money being unspent - free money, it's not a loan, it's a grant - there should be no inaccessible buildings in Bathurst," Mr Triming said.
Businesses can obtain more information or an application package by calling council's community services department on 6333 6523 or visiting council's website.
Applications close on Friday, August 30.
Mr Triming said people with disability and businesses can mutually benefit from premises being accessible.
"So many businesses spend so much money on advertising to get people into their businesses, when putting in disability access gives them access to [a further] 22 per cent of the population," he said.
Bathurst businesses are invited to contact BRAC for independent advice about making premises accessible.
