An 81-year-old Alsager man who suffered a black eye after being “thrown” from his mobility scooter, has urged the council to “get the pavements sorted”.
During a recent meeting at the Civic, members of the town council said they planned to write to Cheshire East Council to complain that the authority was failing in its statutory duty to provide safe walkways for disabled people and those with prams.
Speaking to the “Chronicle” after his accident, Roy Barnett said he was usually able to avoid potholes in the pavements by going around them, but missed a large dip near to Hanalex jewellery shop on Crewe Road while on his way to Asda.
He said: “It just tipped me over and threw me off my mobility scooter. I banged my head and I was lying on the floor.
“Some people came running out of the shop and lifted me up and then took me in, sat me down and gave me a drink of water; they were ever so kind.”
Mr Barnett suffered a bump to the head, a black eye and a six-inch graze to his arm.
He said: “They wanted to phone an ambulance, but I had an appointment at the doctor’s, so I just went to that and then went home. My daughter, who is a nurse, has been dressing my arm for me.
“The pavements in Alsager are terrible and they need sorting. You don’t realise it as much when you’re walking because you can step around them, but on a motorised scooter you don’t always see them.”
Hannah Lovatt-Harrison, a director at Hanalex, said she spotted Mr Barnett lying on the ground as she was on her way into her shop.
She said: “I think it had only just happened, because a man came running over as well and a lady with a small child on a bike stopped.
“We helped him up, put his stuff back into his basket and he was a bit shaken up so I brought him into Hanalex and let him chill out for a bit.
“He had a bump on his head, but luckily he was wearing a big fluffy hat so I think that saved him, because his head was bleeding. He sat with us for half an hour and seemed fine, so we let him go on his way.”
Mrs Lovatt-Harrison said the dip in the pavement had been there for more than two years.
“He said he hadn’t seen it – well, you don’t expect a bloody big hole to be in the ground!” she said.
“The pavements in town are absolutely appalling; it’s disgusting. Whether you’re walking, in a wheelchair, with a pushchair or on a bike, they are diabolical.”
Speaking during Tuesday’s meeting, Cheshire East Coun Rod Fletcher said he had reported the dip in the pavement two years ago.
He said: “It was pointed out two years ago that (the council) was failing in its statutory duties, but it doesn’t seem to have taken any action so far. Maybe we need to remind them.”
Fellow Cheshire East Coun Reg Kain said he had been approached by a member of the public in a mobility scooter during the town council’s annual meeting last Sunday, who complained that the pavements were “unsafe”.
Town Coun Richard McCarthy said: “If reporting these issues through Fixmystreet isn’t working, it could be that pointing out Cheshire East is breaching the Equality Act may be enough leverage for it to leap into action.”
He said Congleton Town Council had been more successful in having repairs to public walkways completed when it pointed out to Cheshire East that it was failing in its obligation to allow those with disabilities to use the pavements safely.
Coun Kain said: “That is the angle we should use if they are breaching their statutory duty in terms of the Equality Act.”
Town Coun Michael Unett agreed: “One thing that we want to achieve is the resurfacing of Lawton Road, especially from Bank Corner.
“What other town centre could you look at and see the roads in this state? The resurfacing has always been promised and then left until the end of the financial year, then we are told it has run out of money.
“It is getting beyond a joke. We simply need to have the town centre resurfaced.”
Town Coun Jane Hearne said she was aware that a cyclist had suffered a black and eye “bashed nose” after hitting a pothole.
She said: “People are starting to get hurt now and that is unacceptable.”
Members agreed to write to Cheshire East Council to complain that it was failing in its statutory duty to provide safe walkways for those with mobility difficulties.
Cheshire East Council was asked to comment.
