Australia — Most
Victorian shopping centres planning major renovation
works will face at least $1.5 million in
disability-access overheads under proposed new rules,
Australia's peak retail group claims.
The figure is about $1.4 million
more than the Federal Government's estimate and shows the
"unrealistic" nature of much of the draft paper, the
Shopping Centre Council of Australia says.
"When people think of
shopping centres, they think in terms of the 70 per
cent that are owned by listed property trusts and the
like," SCCA executive director Milton Cockburn
said.
"But there are around 30 per
cent out there that are owned in many cases by small
business people. And for them this would be a
substantial burden."
The paper, Disability
Standards for Access to
Premises, is an
initiative to bring uniformity to rules for disabled
access to buildings. The federal Attorney-General is
overseeing the initiative and the Australian Building
Codes Board (ABCB) has developed the draft
proposal.
If adopted, the changes will have
broad implications for the property sector, including
apartments, offices and restaurants.
The SCCA, part of the Property
Council of Australia, argues the Government has
underestimated the cost of the changes by $34 billion,
taking the total industry cost closer to $60.1
billion.
Much of the extra cost would be
borne by shopping centres, which the SCCA says are more
likely to be three storeys, not the single-storey model
used in the draft. "In marked contrast to the $42,000
cost estimated (for single-storey buildings), the total
cost of upgrading a (three-storey centre) just to meet
the proposed Premises Standards is estimated at $7.5
million (including GST)," the SCCA report
says.
"This . . . does not
include the cost of complying with the proposed car
park requirements, nor the cost of services such as
power requirements for lifts, etc, which would be
considerable."
The proposed changes would increase
the height of car parks, widen "circulation" spaces,
replace step ramps with longer ramps and install more
lifts.
Only new centres or those that will
have more than half their floor space renovated in a
three-year period need comply. But Mr Cockburn said this
in itself was cause for great concern. "It contrasts with
the public transport industry, which has been given up to
30 years to make transport accessible."
Property agents support the SCCA's
stance and note that most centres already make
significant efforts to meet disabled needs. "So I think
it's slightly onerous to perhaps lift the bar even
further," said FPD Savills portfolio manager of retail
management Richard Henley.
ABCB executive director Ivan
Donaldson said the board had received 270 submissions on
the proposed standards. However, he was unable to comment
on individual papers.
The ABCB will make recommendations
to the state and federal governments by the end of the
year.
