A Tilling Green wheelchair user has launched a campaign to make life easier for people with mobility issues in Rye. Dan Lake wants to hear from local people who have similar problems with access to the town’s businesses and amenities, and needs help to get more dropped kerbs installed around the town.
Dan lives with a degenerative muscle wasting disease which was diagnosed when he was 14. His mum, sister and brother all have it too. At 24 he was an insurance broker in Letchworth in Hertfordshire when he met his wife Donna, who grew up in Rye.
Irresponsible parking a hazard
He says although Rye enjoys a growing reputation as a major tourist attraction, his experience shows more needs to be done to improve access for all. “Increased traffic and irresponsible parking in town makes people with mobility issues more vulnerable to accidents on busy roads. For people in wheelchairs and members of public with mobility issues Rye’s pavements need more dropped curbs.”
The good news is that there are already a number of places in town where access is easy for everyone. Dan’s favourites are the Rope Walk Café, the Kino, the Cinque Ports pub, a few charity shops, the church, the library, Boots, Bargain Box and Simply Italian. If there are any shops or restaurants in Rye who do have ramps, Dan suggests a sign in the window to let wheelchair users know would be very helpful.
Not everywhere is so welcoming
To show the scale of the issue in Rye, Dan has taken a series of photographs, from the perspective of his wheelchair, which he says highlights some of the problems he and others with mobility challenges face.
“As you come up from Market Road going towards Boots the pavement is very narrow. If another wheelchair comes towards me there isn’t room for both. If a person walks towards me they have to walk into the road.
“A van blocks a drop down curb and as you can see in the main picture, the dustbin men have left the bin in the middle of the path.
“Scaffolding can be a challenge. This time I had to go onto the road to get by it but of course there was no drop down curb to get back up on the path.
“My wheel recently came unattached and was hanging off of my wheelchair where the drop down curb in Rye was too high for it.”
Dan wants to reach out to other disabled people in Rye to hear their experience of accessing shops and businesses, with a view to applying for more dropped down curbs to be installed.
More evidence needed
East Sussex Highways Department has already been approached for a grant application to fund strategically placed kerbs, but to make it a reality Dan needs people to come forward with evidence of need in specific locations. “Additional dropped down kerbs will make life much easier also for mums with prams and push chairs. As well as offering benefits for local residents, the introduction of lowered kerbs will impact on crowds of tourists whose numbers are increasing, especially in the summer months.”
What’s your story?
You can leave a comment on Rye News or get in touch with Dan direct. He would like to hear from anyone with examples of specific mobility access problems, questions and / or suggestions for specific improvements. Dan’s email is daniellake8@hotmail.com.
Image Credits: Dan Lake .
Dog poo on pavements. Difficult for wheelchair user to navigate round.
Thanks Joyce this can be a massive problem sometimes
Keep campaigning, Dan. I appreciate the wheelchair user’s view of Rye very much, and would love it if you could also address the issue of going out into the surrounding countryside, which I imagine is well-nigh impossible for you.
I’ve lost count of the number of times my husband and daughter have fallen on Rye’s uneven and cracked pavements, pitted roads, and hidden (because overgrown) edges of paths. This town is merciless to anyone with balance or mobility issues, even minor ones.
And don’t even get me started on Old Brickyard, which is treacherous even in daylight but far more so in the dark, despite the fact it’s one of the most heavily used pedestrian routes in Rye.
The result of all this, of course, is that more people get in their cars for short trips into the town, worsening the parking situation and increasing incidences of cars parked “just for a few minutes” in locations that block pedestrian and road traffic and increase danger for all. Those who have no choice but to walk or wheel are shoved to the bottom of the heap in a chaos of cars parked on pavements, bins and street furniture everywhere, and barely a smooth stretch of wide enough pavement in any part of the town. I suppose you could call it “character”.
Thank you Jane. Yes the old brickyard can be very precarious at times I can’t imagine what it must be like having to go up and down there on a daily basis.
It’s good to hear about Dan’s campaigning. Even as a non wheelchair user I find it hard to navigate the pavements of Rye due to A boards and tables and chairs that East Sussex Highways approve of
Old Brickyard is an unadopted road so not maintained by the council
I cannot understand why Scotland has banned cars parking on pavements but not England, can’t quite get my head round this one!!
I was in a wheelchair temporary for a few weeks last year and it was horrendous trying to go down Landgate towards the salts with children as there was hardly any dropped curbs where u need them , had to go in the road which was very dangerous around a blind corner at the bottom of landgate
Feel extremely sorry for the disabled people in Rye.
Jane Steen …
Barbara Brown is correct about unadopted roads.
There are tarmac slopes around the high st for wheel chair/pram use.
But the narrow paths are hindered by plant pots out side properties, they are there to protect the properties against vehicles damaging the properties. It’s a difficult conundrum people verses property.
But A boards should be banned as they are cause of narrowing the pavements. they are also not really need to advertise the business. People just walk round them.
They often distract from the visual beauty of the buildings and environment.
Vehicles parking on the pavements are dangerous.break the pavements which makes it dangerous to walk along even if able bodied.
Also the black refuge bins and recycling bins/bags left out for days in front of properties that are rented for visitors are dangerous.
Cluttered pavements are dangerous to the visually impaired and those who have a dog as they are registered blind. The dogs are trained to go along edges of kerbs..so parked vehicles are dangerous.
Unfortunately tarmac slopes are not safe to use especially for people in wheelchairs that’s why there needs to be proper drop down curbs in the town.
I agree that the tarmac drops are not good .they may have been a quick temporary idea. But definitely not the correct solution. I have used a wheelchair around Rye for my father..so have an idea from a wheelchair driver …horrendous for the sitter and ‘driver’
Thank you to everyone for reading and commenting on my article over 1100 views is incredible. I still need people who use wheelchairs, scooters, pushchairs and prams to get in touch with me as I could really use your input if we are going to make a difference.
Reading all the feedback from Dan Lakes Post,it’s time for Rye Council to lead from the front in addressing all these serious issues in our town, taking over the toilets is a start, but there is so many other problems that Rother and East Sussex County Council have blatantly ignored, time for Rother district council to give us our carparks back to help pay for the mess both district councils have left this town in.
Don’t forget to get in touch with me or Richard at the Town Hall if you want to chat more about this, Dan. We’ll have a lot of answers to questions. Most of the issues raised in the comments here either aren’t relevant because of roads being unadopted, or they are things we have asked ESCC Highways to address in the past and had no luck, normally down to the age of the town and it’s lack of space to implement these measures. We definitely need to meet up for a chat soon.
Nicky
This doesn’t only affect wheelchair users and parents with pushchairs. Those who use mobility scooters and walking aids benefit too.
Unfortunately more dropped curbs will not solve the problem unless motorists can be stopped parking across them. You can literally spend hours on the phone reporting a vehicle blocking a dropped curb to Sussex Police in an attempt to have it moved on. Best case scenario, they will eventually try to call the registered keeper to move it. No fine, no warning, no deterrent, so those inconsiderate motorists continue doing it. Parking enforcement are equally reluctant to do anything.
I have respectfully confronted motorists parking across dropped curbs in Rye, politely bringing to their attention they’ve parked across a dropped curb. I have had mixed responses, from the apologetic, “oops… sorry… I didn’t see that, I’ll move”, to the aggressive accompanied by some quite creative colourful language!!! I never knew I was so many exciting things!!! All things considered, it makes me wonder if Rye would be better served having a similar system to some other towns, boroughs and cities with cameras where parking fines are automatically issued and popped in the post to the registered vehicle owner. Failure to pay within 14 days results in the fine increasing by 50%.
It is great to hear there are some establishments in Rye who have good access for wheelchair users. On the other hand, we have The Globe Inn in Military Road who removed safe access for wheelchairs. Just look at the street view on Google maps which is dated 2018 and compare with what is in place now. The current owner favours tables over the once easy wheelchair access to the left hand side of the building. Maybe the proprietor should read the Equality Act 2010.
Great article by Dan, I emailed E Sussex Highways Stakeholder Liaison Team with a request for a review of dropped kerbs in Rye (one is about to be underway in Winchelsea, great news). Dan I’ve emailed you separately but I need to do so again as I’ve been told there is funding to provide dropped kerbs that support accessibility. It will be a limited amount and my proposal is that we have a trip round the town and you can tell me where you think they should be prioritised.
Great article Dan.
I have a bit of a bugbear when I spot a car blocking the pavement by the Queen Adelaide pub on Ferry Road. As the quest for free parking always seems to supersede good etiquette, perhaps bollards need to be placed in the space preventing this from happening.
Well said Stephen, another area of Rye that needs sorting, and for the council to put hopefully right,for the safety of pedestrian along Ferry Road.
I had some feedback from a customer who came in the Heritage Centre remarking that being in a wheelchair around Rye is extremely difficult.
To be honest, I was unaware and pointed out the citadel would be challenging particularly Mermaid Street . He agreed but his main complaint was the state of the pavements and general access to shops etc,
Clearly, there needs to be a survey carried out incorporating Dan’s collated information.
In the article, a picture shows Dan blocked by a wheelie bin. Leaving bins strewn all over the pavement seems to normal be practice by RDC’s refuse collector. I have written to RDC on several occasions about putting them back on where they’re not obstructing pavement – back where the customer has placed them!
Well said Dan, before my Mum passed away I used to take her out in a wheelchair, not an enjoyable experience !! What with the dreadful paths, dropped kerbs that still had a slight step or were blocked by cars & her sitting, being bounced about ( with little flesh on her bones, bless her she was 95 ) She always remarked that the Town Mayor & Councillors should take it in turns to push & be pushed in a wheelchair round the town !! then they would know how it felt.
Gillian
Excellent suggestion..