The Civic Centre front doors are now open until 8pm for members of the public attending council meetings.
The extension to the opening hours of the doors of the Civic Centre in London Road Morden came about last month and allows residents access to the Civic Centre through the front doors until 8pm, Monday to Friday.
Previously the front doors closed at 7pm with the exception of evenings of full council meetings and residents were asked to enter the building through the back doors. With most evening meetings at the Council starting at 7.15pm, Merton has now arranged for the doors to stay open until 8pm. This will help those coming to the council via public transport and will help those who are disabled to have greater ease of access to the Civic Centre for evening meetings.
Deputy Leader of Merton Council and cabinet member for Corporate Resources, Samantha George is delighted with the new arrangement.
“Closing the front doors before meetings got underway sent entirely the wrong message to residents, suggesting an unfriendly and unwelcoming attitude towards the public’s attendance at meetings. I am pleased to say that this change has been accomplished at no extra cost and the lonely walk around to the back of the building and through the car park is now a thing of the past.
Councillor George continued:
“These changes are in line with Merton’s ambition to become a more customer-focused organisation that puts residents first.”
In addition to this change, Merton has also made improvements to the disabled access of the gallery of the Council Chamber and the controls in the lifts have been upgraded to meet current Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) requirements. There is also a new ‘DDA compliant’ interview room and a review of the Civic Centre signage is underway to further improve accessibility.