Mum's fury after council wipes out front garden to install £40k disabled ramp

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/459...p-for-daughter

Mum's fury after council WIPES OUT front garden to install £40k disabled ramp for daughter

CLARE LALLY had spent two years pleading with her local council to install a vital disabled ramp outside her home for her wheelchair-bound daughter Katie.

After all, it was the council which had housed her in a home at the top of three flights of steps.

But what she didn’t reckon on was how the council would complete the job.

Officials eventually relented, but Clare, 33, was left shocked by their solution - a £40,000, 10-level chicane-like steel ramp which almost fills their front garden.

The eyesore 'slalem-style' ramp winds its way over 60 metres and is proving a long way round for Clare and Katie

And to cap it all, local youths have hijacked it as a skateboard run.

Katie, seven, suffers from bulbar palsy - caused by complications after she and twin Holly were born prematurely - and is confined to a wheelchair.

Today, mum Clare said: “There must have been a better solution. The council could have gone about the whole project in a more sensible way.

"We had to move to the house to get easier access for Katie and we have fought all these months to get that.

"The council said this was the only option to fit something into the garden because of building regulations.

"It is a lot easier but I don't believe that the council weren't able to do something else.

"We weren't fighting for a massive steel ramp - we just wanted to improve Katie's quality of life.

"What they have built is something which I would never have expected a local council to do. We have to open our blinds and look at it every day."

West Dunbartonshire Council have not yet completed the final costings of the ramp at the home in Clydebank, near Glasgow, but it is estimated to be around £40,000.

The ramp is so big that Clare cannot see the bottom of it from her front window.

The family's problems have been further compounded by youths who are using it as a skateboard run.

But council officials have refused to install a gate, citing health and safety concerns.

Clare, who shares the home with partner Derek Steel, added: "We have waited so long for access and now we have got it.

"But we need to have a gate at the bottom. A lot of youths have started using it because they think it is fun to play on it.

"The council have said they can't give us a gate because it would block the public footpath. Is that the case for everybody else with a gate which swings outward?

"I don't care how the gate opens. I just want one put up."

A spokesman for West Dunbartonshire Council said that the family had indicated they could manage the steps at the property.

He said: "This proved not to be the case. As they were existing tenants, it was the council's duty to make the necessary adaptations.

"This led to the installation of the wheelchair ramp as requested by the family."

It's very rare that I am shocked by the stupidity of politicians.... but for the first time in a long time I have to say: i'm shocked.

I could not think of a scenario/story like this even if I had been smoking the wacky baccy for 20 years. Unbelievable.

[GommeInc]

It seems the problem is choosing that house in the first place. A ramp would have been difficult to install to get the right angle on the slopes. A better solution would be to find alternative accommodation, as the "sensible" option would have seen too steep an incline for a wheelchair user. I can't help but think they're both wrong, when you consider a single slope up to the stairs could be disastrous if she accidentally lets go of her daughter's wheelchair. I can see why the council did it that way, but it's sensibility above practicality.

[The Don]

Haha how ridiculous! However, It's not as if she payed for it so it so she can't really criticise it because it's an 'eyesore'.

[Joshirin]

Awful job, what were they thinking?

[sex]

HAHHAHHahhah serves her right for wanting the council to pay for it

[Yawn]

so ******* funny
a skate board ramp ahhaha

[Empired]

I saw this title and was going to say it's stupid as it's only a garden but that is actually ridiculous.. I can see it's hard because the garden was so steep but surely there was a better way than that lol? How LONG must it take to get to your front door?

[lemons]

why didn't she stop them before they built it lol??

[peteyt]

Looks like the type of thing you'd queue before going on a ride like a rollercoaster. At first when I read it I was thinking well she got what she wanted until I saw the picture.

They should have found a better house in the first place e.g. not on a steep hill.

[Red]

lmao that is a proper eyesore! I feel sorry for the neighbours who have to look at it. Surely they could have rehoused them? and idk why she is moaning about a gate. Pay for it yourself woman!!