I agree Anita, not only do 1 in 5 members of our communities have a disability but our general population is ageing.  The ‘special needs’ of the disabled community, if addressed would ensure our communities were accessible to ALL members including people with disabilities, parents useing pushchairs and older people who also can have mobility, strength and balance problems.  If all our councils embraced universal accessible design when planning and took into account the needs of all it’s citizens when maintaining it’s infrastructure; our communities would better be able to be accessed by all.