NEW CENTRE’S ‘FLAGSHIP’ STATUS EXTENDS TO ACCESSIBILITY

The new Aberavon Leisure & Fitness Centre will transform the famous seafront into one of the most accessible in Wales- helped by its toilets!

The £13.4m facility for Neath Port Talbot Council incorporates a pool with moveable floor, spin room, dance suite, sports hall, youth facilities, café and community rooms. Further helping set the centre apart are its toilets, which include two state-of-the-art assisted accessible facilities- Changing Places.

Supplied by leading disabled toilet specialist Clos-o-Mat, and installed for main contractor Heron Bros. by mechanical engineers FP Hurley, the Changing Places mean anyone who needs a carer to help them go to the toilet will still be able to enjoy all the facilities on offer- in both the ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ areas of the Centre.

Changing Places facilities include more space, plus a changing bench and hoist alongside the ‘standard’ fittings in a wheelchair-accessible toilet. Otherwise, the tens of thousands of children and adults who need that equipment face either having to be changed on the toilet floor, cutting their trip short, or not going there at all.

Cllr Ali Thomas, OBE, Leader of Neath Port Talbot Council, observed, “The leisure centre is the latest in a series of improvements to transform the area. The Centre will have all the necessary modern facilities, and will be a focal point in enhancing our strategy for regenerating the whole area.”

The Changing Places toilets at the leisure centre compliment a further facility in the area, at the new Port Talbot Parkway Station. Under latest guidelines and regulations, Changing Places toilets are ‘desirable’ in any building to which numbers of the public have access, yet fewer than 800 exist across the UK.

Clos-o-Mat has a proven track record in the supply and installation of fully accessible toilets, including a substantial number of Changing Places facilities. It is unique in its ability to deliver- in-house- design advice, supply, installation, commissioning, project management and maintenance across the ambit of accessible toileting equipment, including the Clos-o-Mat wash and dry (automatic) toilet. To help leisure providers  ‘get it right’, the company has a raft of downloadable information on its website, www.clos-o-mat.com, including sector-specific white papers, CAD blocks, room renders and videos.