For around 10 years, Dial has been part of the Mansfield Town Centre Partnership (MTCP) and works with the organisation to address the needs of disabled people.

The aim of the organisation is to improve the town centre for all who work, live or visit there by making it a safe, accessible and attractive environment through public, private and voluntary sector partnership.

MTCP includes around 130 different people from 50 different organisations and businesses, who represent the majority of town centre stakeholders.

The partnership has a number of working groups and Dial is represented on the Access and Environment Group by volunteer Mark Price.

The group meets six times a year and meetings provide an opportunity for Mark to meet face-to-face with representatives from the district and county councils, police, Four Seasons Shopping Centre and individual businesses.

One of Mark's aims at the meetings is to ensure that the needs of disabled people have been taken into account when new initiatives and developments are being planned.

Failures

He also highlights failures in current infrastructure or failures to meet existing and new legislation, such as the width and number of accessible car parking bays.

Mark said: "We mainly look at access issues, but it's really anything to do with disability. It's about making sure people can get into the town centre.

"The situation in Mansfield is not particularly bad, but there are always improvements that can be made."

The partnership group also exists to ensure a two-way flow of information so that Mark can report back to Dial why some of their requests cannot be accommodated.

Mark is urging anyone with specific issues regarding access in Mansfield town centre to contact Dial.

Any problems will be passed onto Mark and he will bring them up at the next Access and Environment Group meeting on 7th May.