	{"id":125777,"date":"2026-05-17T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/byroncoasttimes\/?p=125777"},"modified":"2026-05-13T20:59:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T10:59:18","slug":"council-seeks-community-input-on-disability-inclusion-action-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/byroncoasttimes\/news\/council-seeks-community-input-on-disability-inclusion-action-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Council seeks community input on Disability Inclusion Action Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>BALLINA Shire Council has put its draft Disability Inclusion Plan on public exhibition with the community to play a key role in shaping the final plan.<\/p>\n<p>It outlines how the council intends to improve the delivery of services, design of public spaces, and accessibility of information.<\/p>\n<p>Social and community development officer Kiara McBeath said community feedback would be central to finalising the plan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is important we review the existing plan and make sure it captures and reflects the community\u2019s priorities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis plan is shaped by lived experience and community input, and we encourage everyone, particularly people with a disability, their families and carers, to review the draft and have their say.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is an opportunity for people to share their experiences, highlight barriers, and help us identify practical actions that will make a genuine difference in everyday life across our community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The plan aims to improve accessibility benefits the wider community, including older residents, families with young children, people with temporary injuries, and visitors.<\/p>\n<p>The update also focuses on supporting meaningful employment and improving access to services through better systems and processes.<\/p>\n<p>The council held face-to-face community feedback sessions at its customer service centre.<\/p>\n<p>It said the plan is designed to strengthen participation and ensure public spaces and services are usable and welcoming for everyone.<\/p>\n<p>Community members are encouraged to review the draft plan and provide feedback through <a href=\"http:\/\/yoursayballina.com.au\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>yoursayballina.com.au<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Consultation closes Friday, 29 May with submissions to be considered in the development of the final plan, which will be presented to the council in June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BALLINA Shire Council has put its draft Disability Inclusion Plan on public exhibition with the community to play a key role in shaping the final plan. It outlines how the council intends to improve the delivery of services, design of public spaces, and accessibility of information. Social and community development officer Kiara McBeath said community [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/byroncoasttimes\/news\/council-seeks-community-input-on-disability-inclusion-action-plan\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":125780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-125777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Council seeks community input on Disability Inclusion Action Plan - Byron Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ballina Shire Council invites residents to provide feedback on its draft Disability Inclusion Action Plan to improve local accessibility and services.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/byroncoasttimes\/news\/council-seeks-community-input-on-disability-inclusion-action-plan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Council seeks community input on Disability Inclusion Action Plan - Byron Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ballina Shire Council invites residents to provide feedback on its draft Disability Inclusion Action Plan to improve local accessibility and services.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/byroncoasttimes\/news\/council-seeks-community-input-on-disability-inclusion-action-plan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Byron Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-16T18:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2026\/05\/IR-25.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mitchell Craig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mitchell Craig\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/news\\\/council-seeks-community-input-on-disability-inclusion-action-plan\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/news\\\/council-seeks-community-input-on-disability-inclusion-action-plan\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mitchell Craig\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9846d5675d51069bb38b76da2cd6a7dc\"},\"headline\":\"Council seeks community input on Disability Inclusion Action Plan\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-16T18:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/news\\\/council-seeks-community-input-on-disability-inclusion-action-plan\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":269,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/news\\\/council-seeks-community-input-on-disability-inclusion-action-plan\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/IR-25.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/news\\\/council-seeks-community-input-on-disability-inclusion-action-plan\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/news\\\/council-seeks-community-input-on-disability-inclusion-action-plan\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/byroncoasttimes\\\/news\\\/council-seeks-community-input-on-disability-inclusion-action-plan\\\/\",\"name\":\"Council seeks community input on Disability Inclusion Action Plan - 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