City failing to meet the needs of the disabled

PLYMOUTH is a great city, with a picturesque waterfront, a life-saving hospital and big plans to revitalise its city centre, but it is not always the easiest place to get around if you are disabled.

- WILLIAM TELFORD

Members of Plymouth Area Disability Action Network (PADAN) told The Herald how many people struggle to access the waterfront, and even to Derriford Hospital, where car parks pose a challenge.

They have concerns about the future development of the city centre, which may encourage a proliferation of motorised cycle users and a subsequent likelihood of collisions.

PADAN members are also concerned about how budgetary straightjackets have hampered the otherwise excellent support available from public sector organisations and charities. All in all, they said a raft of, often quite small, issues amount to a major obstacle for those with mobility issues, or as PADAN member Darren Stoneman said: "It's little, tiny things that make it not worth you going out." PADAN has 500 members, of which about 25 meet once a month.

to discuss issues that affect anyone "struggling with day-to-day living in the city". It welcomes able-bodied people too, and has been helped by Plymouth City Council which provides space for meetings at the Council House.

Mr Stoneman said: "It's a forum for everybody. A friendly group that try to make things better for people that are struggling." Here, PADAN members highlight some of the issues affecting disabled people across the city, and focus on five that are top of their list of concerns.

Derriford Hospital

The car parks are too far from the entrances to the hospital and there are just not enough parking places, PADAN members said. Some parking space has been lost to a unit containing a scanner, they said.