River Valley Ramps A Cause For Great Concern.
I have contacted the County Council to seriously look into repairing and constructing some wheelchair ramps and footpaths around River Valley, as some are in an appalling and unsafe condition.
Local resident, Anna Preston from Cherry Avenue in River Valley got in touch with myself to explain the difficulties she experiences in her daily life, thanks to the conditions of the wheelchair ramps in particular, which she is heavily reliant on. “I suffered a stroke some time ago and now rely on a wheelchair to go out and about,” she said. “I can do a small bit of walking, but some of the paths are in such a bad state that I wouldn’t attempt to try any. Apart from the broken ground where the Forest Fields Road meets River valley Road, I also take my life in my hands when I try to go through the area in my wheelchair, because of the appalling state of the ramps. I need to have my husband with me all the time due to the disgraceful condition of the roads and footpaths, and I’m unable to call to friends around the estate because of this.”
I have found that there are only a couple of properly constructed wheelchair ramps in Anna’s estate, and there are a few more so called ’ramps’ very badly constructed. This means the height of the footpath at these ‘ramps’ are far too steep for her wheelchair, or anyone else’s for that matter.
When going and coming from Swords, Anna has to travel part of the journey by cycle track, because of this. This puts her life in extreme danger as she has to cross the busy River Valley Road where there are no properly constructed access ramps or crossings. I’m calling on the County Council to take this matter extremely seriously, as the current state of the footpaths and wheelchair ramps are totally unsafe and unsuitable for use. Something must be done to fix this.
Success: the broken footpath has been repaired 25-08-2014