Brisbane has been accused of putting a curfew on the blind by turning off audible traffic signals. Source: AAP
AUSTRALIA'S largest council has been accused of imposing a curfew on blind people by turning off audible traffic signals at night.
The Brisbane City Council has angered Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes, who's said he was stunned to learn what the council has done to satisfy CBD residents unhappy about the noise.
Mr Innes was in Brisbane at the weekend for a meeting about information services for the blind and vision impaired.
"Effectively we were on a curfew because at 9.30 at night the audible traffic signals are turned off and they don't go back on until 6.30 in the morning," he told ABC radio.
"If we were out later than that at night, or up and about before 6.30, which I often am because I take my guide dog for a walk, we didn't have the benefit of signals to cross roads."
Mr Innes says he's never come across the situation in other capital cities, and residents must know there's an element of noise associated with living in CBDs.
He also noted traffic signals contained sensors which reduced the level of sound at quiet times, such as at night.
Deputy Mayor Adrian Schrinner said signals generally were switched off in the CBD between 9.30pm and 6.30am, as part of an effort to balance the views of residents with the needs of pedestrians.
But he said the council was happy to modify the hours of operation based on requests and demand.
"Whenever we receive a request we'll do a review. In February we received a request for extended hours at about four or five CBD intersections and as a result those intersections are now operating 24-hours a day," Mr Schrinner told the ABC.
Asked why the council shouldn't have signals running around the clock, Mr Schrinner said: "It comes down to balancing the demands of use of those intersections with the concerns of residents as well".
"Where there's a need for it, where there's facilities operating late into the night, absolutely you can see the rationale for it," he said.
Mr Schrinner said the audible traffic signals had been generally switched off in the CBD for more than 10 years.
He said the issue came to a head back then when residents angry about the noise demanded the council take action.
"Our responsibility as a democratic organisation is to find that right balance," he told the ABC.
At the time, traffic signals were also being regularly vandalised.
"We don't know who was vandalising them but they were being vandalised, and it's a fair assumption that that might have been associated with the noise they made."
Mr Innes said the council's approach was nonsensical.
He said that as a visitor to the city, he didn't know which roads he was going to need to cross, and nor would others.
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