Disability Access News

A call has been made for the disabled ramp beside the Narooma cinema’s to be fixed.

The kerb ramp was installed to work with the disabled car park, and it appears the disabled car park itself was made large enough to incorporate the kerb ramp.

But for unknown reasons the kerb access ramp was put in front of a car parking space beside the disabled car park.

As the kerb ramp is in front of a car parking space when vehicles park the disabled access is unusable by people with walking frames and wheelchairs.

Owners of the Narooma Cinema’s John and Janette Griffiths have contacted Council about the awkward access point but have not received a response.

“I would relocate the ramp to the actual disabled car park,” Mrs Griffiths said.

However the likely solution may be to erect signage-disallowing parking in the space in front of the disabled kerb ramp.

Both Mr and Mrs Griffiths are concerned disabled persons will be inconvenienced as they must negotiate their way around other vehicles in the car park to access the footpath.

Saturday, December 6 2008

SEVERAL DISABLED persons on motorised wheelchairs could not join in yesterday’s closing ceremony for Disabled Awareness Week on Harris Promenade in San Fernando due to the height of the promenade’s edge from the road.

The angry disabled persons are calling on San Fernando Mayor Kenneth Ferguson and the San Fernando Corporation (SFCC) to make the area more user friendly for disabled persons.

“We still can’t come up (on the promenade) to participate in activities. The promenade is not useable,” complained chairman of Combined Disabilities of Trinidad and Tobago, Harrilal Singh, 60.

He pointed to the six inch edge of the promenade which made it impossible for wheelchair-bound persons to access the promenade by themselves. Harrilal said he felt disenchanted with the treatment meted out to the disabled in San Fernando.

“I like to go about and participate in activities, but apparently no thought was given to people on wheelchairs who want to use the promenade when it was constructed,” Harrilal said.

Another man, Premnath Samaroo, 48, from San Fernando said it was dangerous to raise the front of wheelchairs too far off the ground since the chair might capsize backwards causing injury to the person sitting.

Samaroo positioned his chair behind a parked vehicle to view the parade of performers because he too could not access nearby chairs and tents placed along the promenade.

Corporation CEO Marlene Coudray said she was aware of the situation. “There is a ramp at the back of the bandstand for wheelchairs. But I saw for myself yesterday that motorised chairs cannot access the promenade from the front,” Coudray said.

She said the SFCC did not build the promenade and said it was a project of the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (Udecott).

However, she said meetings were held with the Disability Unit months ago and work will start on a ramp for motorised wheelchairs next week.

Incidentally, the week long celebration was to raise public awareness of the different issues facing the disabled.

“Over 25 Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) turned out for the launch of the Disabled Awareness Week on the Brian Lara Promenade,” said Angela Edwards, the Director of Disabilities Affairs Unit in the Ministry of Social Development.

Dec 10 2008 by Aaron Boland, Liverpool Daily Post

Hospital patients angry at disabled car park closure

DISABLED patients at the Royal Liverpool Hospital reacted angrily yesterday after discovering their car park had been closed to make way for hospital staff.

The car park, on West Derby Street, is now being used as an overspill parking area for staff, and disabled patients have been moved to a multi-storey further away.

Phil Balmer, 63, from Farnworth in Widnes, is diabetic and can only walk a short distance after having a quadruple bypass operation.

He says hospital administrators were putting the welfare of staff before that of disabled patients.

When he arrived at the car park – which was yesterday still signposted for disabled drivers – he was refused entry by an attendant at the barrier.

He says the car park, which has space for 50 to 60 vehicles, was not full, and believes the new disabled parking provision on Prescot Street is not suitable for many disabled people.

Mr Balmer said there was no information about the new parking arrangements on display in the hospital.

He said: “People need to be informed about the multi-storey car park and the shuttle service from there to the hospital.

“I don’t think a shuttle bus is the answer as you don’t know how long you’ll have to wait for it, and could be late for your appointment.

“I’m reasonably fortunate because I can walk and could struggle over to the hospital, but others may have to wait. It could a bit lonely, especially at night.”

Hospital chief executive Tony Bell said: “The new facility has improved access, is well lit, secure and maintained, has clear signs and there are also staff on hand to provide assistance to anyone who needs it.” The shuttle bus ensured patients were taken direct to the most convenient entrance and collected afterwards.

He said the new disabled car park opened on November 17, and the old car park remained open for another two weeks.

An extended period of grace had been arranged until early January to ensure those who were not aware of the change could use the old car park.

Nov 20 2008 by Paul Fulford, Birmingham Mail

WHEELCHAIR user Brendan King is challenging Birmingham’s councillors to swap places with him after a “nightmare” trip to the city’s German market.

Brendan, 65, from Dudley, has used “wheels” since snapping his spine in a climbing accident in the 80s – but he’s boycotted Brum for 20 years after staff abandoned him on a freezing platform at New Street station.

Friends persuaded him to give the city another try, so he came into town twice last week – first for a business meeting in Bull Street and then to sample the gluhwein and pretzels in Victoria Square.

His first impression was that disabled access for rail users had dramatically improved, with newly installed lifts and helpers waiting to assist him when he arrived.

What he hadn’t bargained for was how difficult he would find the two relatively short journeys across the city centre.

“It was a nightmare for a self-propelled wheelchair user,” he says. “On making my way out of the main entrance from the station I was confronted by a maze of streets going in several directions with buses and cars screaming around.

“If there are signs directing wheelchair users to find the main parts of town via safe crossing points and ramps, then I certainly couldn’t find them.

“It’s not an easy city centre to get around with all the stairs and the steps on the steep rise from the station to the main city shopping areas.

“What disappointed me is that I’d encountered the same problems all those years ago with the old Bull Ring shopping mall.

The trip to the Christmas Market a few days later was easier – but only slightly.

“This time we did find more ramps tucked away,” said Brendan. “But none of the ramps had coinciding dropped kerbs for crossing the streets and then straight up the ramp.

“We had to zigzag to search for dropped kerbs and still found crossing the roads and streets to be a nightmare.”

Worse was to come when they followed a blue sign offering him and friend a short cut to the station on the way home.

The route took them to the back entrance of the station where they were confronted with impossibly steep steps.

Brendan said: “The new-look, glossy city centre remains a dangerous, impenetrable, unsigned nightmare for wheelchair users. I would still avoid Brum at all costs.”

He doesn’t want to wait another 20 years until he returns, so he’s inviting any councillor to travel with him in a wheelchair for a couple of hours to experience first-hand the difficulties of getting around.