Custom-designed electric gates are helping people who use mobility aids, like wheelchairs and scooters, to enjoy a nature reserve, and easier access to a neighbourhood shopping area.
In a WA-first, people with disability can now register with the City of Cockburn to receive a remote-control fob that controls two gates at Little Rush Lake in Yangebup.
The remote control opens and closes the electric gates, wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs, on the western and eastern sides of Samuel Caporn Reserve. The fobs are kept by each registered holder until no longer required and returned to the City.
The gates also provide access to a shopping centre in South Lake, east of Little Rush Lake on North Lake Road. Access via nearby Osprey Drive is not possible due to the lack of a shared path.
The bushland reserve, like many in the Perth metropolitan area, is fenced with entry points restricted by chicane safety barriers designed to keep motorbikes out of the fragile environmental and protect the safety of pedestrians.
The barriers stop illegal motorbike riding but also prevent people who use wheelchairs and other mobility devices from entering the public reserve.
City of Cockburn Disability Access and Inclusion Officer Jennifer Crowther said the City had acted on feedback from people with disability who were unable to access the reserve, or the adjacent shopping centre.
“The City’s Environmental Operations team took about six months to create a design which was then assessed by consultants before funding was sourced to allow production,” Ms Crowther said.
“We installed the gates in June 2025 and after some testing and teething problems, the antenna were upgraded to provide a more efficient remote signal to activate the gates.
“The project took more than two years to develop and we hope it can be a model easily adapted by other local government areas.
“The City will explore potential future gate locations to support this important initiative.”
Hamilton Hill resident and keen bushwalker Joel Raykos and his Support Worker Kathrin Ploetz said Little Rush Lake was now on their ‘must visit’ list.
Joel, who communicates with the aid of an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device said he loved regular walks, with Manning Park in Hamilton Hill among his favourites.
Kathrin, who has been Joel’s support worker for 22 years, said Joel had always been a keen walker and was excited to learn about a new accessible Cockburn reserve to explore.
His mum Gina Raykos said her son and Kathrin enjoyed regular walks in parks and along coastal paths and had previously experienced bollards that stopped Joel and his wheelchair accessing public recreation areas.
Joel said the bollards also stopped people using other mobility devices, such as mobility scooters like Gophers, and even prams, from visiting public parks.
The gates’ installation helps fulfil the City’s 2023-2028 Disability Access and Inclusion Plan (DAIP), the fourth of its kind to be adopted by the City since the first was implemented in 2007.
The DAIP encompasses six outcomes that focus on providing accessible services, information, buildings, customer service, complaint channels and public consultation, while expanding the City’s current employment and training pathways for people with disability.
