Madam, Today has been a glorious spring day, and a Saturday, too. Having bought myself a mobility scooter just before the weather froze, I prepared it, and myself for our first venture into Ross. I knew where I wanted to go, and what I wanted to do, what I was not prepared for were all the problems and barriers in my way!
Drop-kerbs, where they exist range from level to two inches. The larger ones could just be managed with a bit of speed, full kerbs are just not mountable!
It was very frustrating to see a drop-kerb peeping out from under a parked car... or to have the pathway blocked. Just enough space left for walkers, but not for mobility scooter riders.
However, despite these difficulties I managed all my jobs in town, and as I was at Morrisons, and only wanted to go to the Garden Store I set off through the industrial estate. Few drop-kerbs, to start with - petering out to none at all! A kind motor-cyclist saw my plight, and helped me turn my scooter round, and remount the pavement to try another way.
I cut through Grammar School Close to Ryefield Road, and came back to Gloucester Road - heading for the Garden Store from this direction. I used the drop-kerb to cross the road only to find that the pavement ceased at the bottom of their frontage. Undeterred I motored across the grass, hoping to find a way of going up their drive. Only to be thwarted at their entrance.
Tell me, whose fault is it that I couldn't spend my £50 at the Garden Store? Just because my legs don't work too well doesn't mean that my money isn't as good as anyone else's. How many other people have not been able to spend their money in Ross because shops are inaccessible?
Who would like to join with me, to tell Herefordshire Council where we would like improvements to the pavements, so that we can get about just as well as anyone else? Those of us who are disabled are not second class citizens! And traders, you are losing out too.
Hillary Stringer, Ross