Overview

I visited this shopping park with one of my service users who finds this a really good place to shop and eat. Their only complaint is "there should be more drop down kerbs". However, keep to the route of the park and it is reasonably easy to get around. After going there with my service user I went back to see just how accessible it was and to see if there was any other notable provisions. This is a wheelchair accessible outdoor shopping park on the outskirts of York. If your wanting a more calmer shopping experience in York then this is an ideal place. With a variety of popular shopping outlets and cafe's. Make a day of it and visit the more recently built Vangarde shopping park less that half a mile up the road that boasts large stores including; John Lewis, Next and M&S. In addition, there are more accessible eateries to choose from once you've shopped up a hunger . Why not finish the day with a nice meal.

Transport & Parking

There are plenty of disabled parking spaces at Monks Cross with allocated spaces in each parking zone apart from zone D. Parking that is not so obvious to the left of Pizza Hut and in front of Hobbie craft and Monsoon. There is a 4 hour limit on parking. However, if you wish to stay longer just pop into the information centre and notify the security team of your car registration to avoid penalty charges. There is a regular Park and Ride facility that goes into York centre should the mood take you. There are also regular bus routed that literally run through the park. All busses as far as i'm aware are ones that are able to lower level to the kerb to allow wheelchairs to board with a space near the front for the wheelchair. Unfortunately pushchairs are often in this space.

Access

The shopping park itself is all on one level however, if you want to go to Asda from the park there are limited drop down kerbs to make this easy. If you following the path around the park ( there is also one that goes straight through the middle) it is easier to navigate. To the left of the park there are additional stores, ( TK Maxx, Argos and Sainsburys) to get to them there is a little path and a pelican crossing. All the shops that I went onto that had more than one floor had lifts.

Toilets

There are 2 disabled toilets located where the information centre is, tucked away in the corner of the park next to New look. The toilets have plenty of room for a carer and are to a high standard of cleanliness. They also have grab rails fitted and an emergency pull cord. My only criticism would be that there should be another toilet on the other side of the park as it would be rather a long way if there was an urgent need for the toilet. Please note there are also disabled toilets in Asda (on the other side of the park) and also in the cafes on site.

Staff

All the staff I dealt with her helpful and friendly. I would like to comment that the gentleman (sorry didn't catch your name) in the information centre was more than happy to help with my research of the park and answered any questions I had happily.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was free manual wheelchairs that could be hired from the park for free once a hire form had been filled out for a one off hire. Or if they were returning customers that required a manual wheelchair on a more regular basis they would be issued with a card rather than having to fill out a form every time. I thought this was good as my service users power chair can be a little temperamental at times so good to know if we should ever have a break down!

Photos