FOR Jemima Dickens going to the movies was one of the few activities she could do, until she moved to Batemans Bay.
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After a back injury left her in pain and unable to walk without a walking stick, Ms Dickens went to the movies regularly.
She moved to Batemans Bay from Canberra two weeks ago but was disappointed to find the Bay City Cinema inaccessible to people with mobility difficulties.
While the cinema does have a chair lift to enable customers to travel to the top level, it is currently out of order.
“I can’t walk upstairs, especially not the steep small stairs at the Bay cinema,” Ms Dickens said.
“People with mobility issues here are disadvantaged.”
Ms Dickens said a staff member told her the lift had been out of order for six months and did not know when it would be repaired.
“If it had of broken recently, I would have understood,” she said.
“But it has been six months…. The lady just fobbed us off.”
Ms Dickens believed a lot of people were missing out on going to the movies and the cinema was missing out on business.
“I saw an 80-year-old struggling up the stairs and I’m sure she is not the only one,” she said.
“People shouldn’t have to struggle to go see a movie just because they have mobility problems.”
Ms Dickens commended the cinema on having hearing loops for those with hearing difficulties but wanted the same service for those with mobility issues.
Bay City Cinemas owner Glenda Churchill said she understood and shared in Ms Dickens’ frustration in the time it was taking to repair the lift.
She said they were doing all they possibly could to fix the problem as soon as possible.
“Unfortunately it has taken several months and numerous technician visits to ascertain the many ongoing problems caused by a lightning strike/power surge,” Ms Churchill said.
“We are currently working our way through the slow process of an insurance claim.
“As a small family business it breaks our hearts when we have to turn away a child in a chair who doesn’t understand or when we disappoint adults, not to mention the financial impact it has on our business in our busiest time of year.”
Ms Churchill said she was well aware there were not many activities in the Bay for people with mobility issues, which was why the cinema supported council’s respite services and charity House with No Steps.
