Looking from upstairs
The Australian Girls Choir is probably best known for their role in Qantas TV ads, singing ‘I Still Call Australia Home’ but the Winter Showcase Concert is one of two major performances the full choir does each year. It’s mostly a family affair, but easily of a quality outsiders could attend and enjoy. We always look forward to this show, not least because our daughter is a committed chorister and has been part of the choir for five years. This year was an exceptionally professional production once again, with a blend of choreographed performances of popular songs and more traditional pieces.
As a venue, The Hills Centre, in Carrington Rd, Castle Hill, is pretty good. There are only two disabled parking spaces, both in front of the main entrance. However, there is plenty of room to set down passengers on the main roundabout entrance. If you can, it’s a good idea to take advantage of this, because while there’s plenty of parking further away, you have to wheel on the road to get back – there’s no footpath and no shortcut.
Entry to the foyer is flat and very straightforward. The accessible toilet (only one) is to the left of the foyer and the lifts are immediately on your right. I’m not sure if wheelchair patrons are ever seated upstairs – on each occasion we’ve been we have sat on the floor level.
The wheelchair seating on ground level is good, with clear, unobstructed viewing and good sightlines. On this occasion we were offered the end of the 2nd row, but after the performance started, I moved to the 3rd row, which gave a slightly better angle.
The accessible toilet has solid rails but they are really too short to be much use. Perhaps they satisfy the Australian Standard but in my view they need to be longer for someone transferring alone. The basin is possible to wheel under (if you don’t mind bumping your knees) and the soap and dryer are within reach (though a bit of a stretch).There’s a sliding door but unfortunately, as I find with most sliding toilet doors, they soon go out of alignment and become impossible to lock, like this one. It appears that an electromagnetic lock had been installed but it didn’t work, at least not for me. The toilet doubles as a baby change room, meaning it can be in demand, especially at family shows.
In summary, The Hills Centre is a good place to see performances, but they really need to do some work on the accessible toilet and consider making all parking spaces at the front disabled only.