Science tower faces legal threat

Published on Wednesday 22 September 2004 00:54

THE fault-plagued £10 million Millennium Tower at the Glasgow Science Centre could face a legal challenge over a lack of access for the disabled.

The Disability Discrimination Act, which requires businesses to ensure they have provided adequate access for disabled people, comes into force on 1 October.

And according to the Disability Rights Commission, businesses have known since 1995 that the new law would come into force this year.

Carol Stewart, of DRC Scotland, said: "Everyone knew the act was coming. The act itself has been in place since 1995 and since then we have been trying to make sure all businesses have been aware of their responsibilities under the act. Businesses have had almost ten years to see this coming and I think it should have been included in the designs.

"There should have been more forward planning on the builders’ part, especially as this building is relatively new."

Ms Stewart added: "To comply with the act, businesses only have to do what is reasonable. What is reasonable may have to be defined in court.

"I find it quite bizarre, given that this is a tourist attraction and therefore has to attract as many people as possible, that they have not taken this into account."

Ms Stewart said that the science centre will be in breach of the act but it would be up to a disabled person to take an action against them.

She said: "They would have to look at how they overcame the access problems. People in these cases use health and safety quite a lot as an argument and health and safety legislation can override the DDA.

"They are not only stopping wheelchair users from accessing the tower but also the people they are with, who presumably would not go without their disabled friend or family member.

"There is a strong business argument for making access available to the disabled too."

A spokeswoman for Capability Scotland said: "We found it surprising that such a new building could have been built without taking into account the needs of those visitors who use wheelchairs.

"We always advocate that tourist attractions should be accessible to the disabled. If there was any way round this problem that would be great."

A spokeswoman for the Science Tower said it was designed in 1997, two years after the beginning of the act. She said that the attraction could not now be changed.

She said there were plans to install a video link so wheelchair users could enjoy the views from the top.

She said: "Health and safety evacuation regulations require lift passengers to be able to walk a few steps unaided.

"Glasgow Tower was designed years ago and all the necessary permissions were given when the building work commenced. We have been advised that modification is not now possible.

"The past and future galleries of the tower are accessible by wheelchairs, as are all the other areas of the Glasgow Science Centre.

"Glasgow Science Tower sought the advice of the Adapt Trust as to how to make the experience as accessible as possible."

Previous problems with the tower have included faults with the two glass lifts, which were found to be too heavy. The 600-tonne structure also had to be raised by a fraction of an inch to remove its 2ft-diameter spherical thrust bearing, whose failure has been linked to corrosion from water penetration.

It was announced yesterday that the centre’s chief executive was stepping down after two years in the post for a job in England.