Disability Access News

9:30am Sunday 14th December 2008
By Ali Dent »

A DISABLED pensioner is calling on developers in Yate to make public buildings and pathways more accessible.

Betty Billingham, 76, bought an electric scooter six months ago so she could be more independent but she has been left out in the cold on a number of occasions.

"Outside my doctors’ surgery in Abbotswood I cannot get off the pavement because there is no dropped kerb," she said.

"So I have to get off my scooter and push it into the road. There is also a problem on Link Road, where the new traffic lights have been installed, because the road has been hollowed out too much and when it rains huge ponds form in the road.

"I cannot cross because the motor on my scooter would be submerged."

Mrs Billingham and her husband Peter, 79, moved to Finch Road in Chipping Sodbury 17 years ago. The couple chose the area after living in South Africa because Yate Shopping Centre seemed so accessible.

Mrs Billingham, vice-chairman of Sodbury and Yate Photographic Club, had been in a wheelchair since 1985.

"Generally the pavements are very good around here and I can get as far out as Old Sodbury on my own," said Mrs Billingham, who was born in Sudan.

"But I cannot get into Chipping Sodbury Post Office because there is no ramp.

"And when I tried to go to the Pop Inn café in the shopping centre I could not get in.

"The café was designed especially for the over 50s and it is the one place you would think disabled people had been considered."

Mrs Billingham has suffered from spinal and hip problems for decades and can only walk very short distances.

"I just want to raise awareness about these problems," she said.

"With all the building work going on in Yate Shopping Centre, the new health centre, the library and the leisure centre, I just want to make sure the same faux pas are not going to be made."

She said it would be very difficult to rectify any mistakes once the building projects were completed.

"I think a few places where there are problems should be pointed out and disabled people like me should be consulted on these big projects."

Yate town councillor and chairman of the council’s finance committee Martin Monk said he was aware of the problems disabled customers face at the Pop Inn café, which the council runs.

He said an electric door had been discussed at several meetings.

"It is like everything else," he said. "It is a question of balancing the books.

"An electric door would cost £8,000 but there are so many schemes which need financing.

"We are looking at it and we will consider it again."

Mrs Billingham has contacted Northavon MP Steve Webb to raise awareness of her calls for improved access.

Mr Webb said: "Unless you have firsthand experience you cannot imagine what the problems are likely to be and even the best-willed public body in the world will unintentionally exclude people.

"Mrs Billingham is approaching this in a very constructive way and I hope the PCT and other bodies will engage with her and others for the benefit of everyone."