Disabled residents say Henley is not an accessible town

DISABLED residents believe Henley is not an accessible town and its issues are exacerbated by a lack of awareness by others.

The main issues experienced by the visually and physically impaired include parking, navigating A-boards on narrow pavements and overgrown hedges.

Lisa Drage, 57, who has Parkinson’s disease, believes disabled parking should be limited to three hours in the town.

There are 30 disabled parking spaces at the three town centre car parks in King’s Road, Greys Road and Southfields, all owned by South Oxfordshire District Council.

A blue badge holder can be a passenger and display it when parking in any spots with no time limits.

Ms Drage says that there should be a three-hour time limit on these spaces, particularly in Greys Road, to free up space.

She said: “The trouble is that they get blocked out all the time because there is no time limit.

“People who work in the town or live locally and have a disabled badge can park there as long as they want, meaning no one else can use the space.”

Ms Drage said regular-sized bays are not wide enough to allow for safe manoeuvring around the vehicle, particularly for those who are wheelchair users.

She said: “You can park in a non-disabled bay with a badge and not pay but the problem is that you have no manoeuvrability. I can’t open the door fully to twist around.

“You can’t safely get a wheelchair out for yourself or a disabled child, as I have.

“You can park on double yellow lines, so long as you’re not causing an obstruction, but it can be quite dangerous.”

Ms Drage has adaptations to her car to enable her to drive and park safely and often struggles to find a space, forcing her to return home without completing errands.

She said: “There have been times when I have come into town and gone home again because I can’t park safely. It’s a waste of time and it makes it stressful as you’re never sure you can find a space.”

Ms Drage believes inspectors should be deployed to monitor usage and enforce any new time limits to ensure fair rotation of spaces.

She said: “It seems unfair that the need for more blue badge spaces, reduced timing and enforcement hasn’t been recognised.”

Humphrey Laughton, 74, who lives in Makins Road, is partially sighted and uses a cane when out walking.

After a traumatic brain injury, he has no right-hand vision, very restricted vision on the left and has a visual offset, which fluctuates with tiredness, blood sugar levels and blood pressure.

Although he cannot drive because he is registered legally blind, his wife will take him into town in the car and use his blue badge to park in accessible spots.

Mr Laughton says the disabled parking spaces next to the town hall are “abused” by people who go for coffee in Market Place.

He said: “We generally only go down on Thursday morning but you can never get a spot because it’s blocked by people going to Gail’s for coffee. They say they’ll only be five minutes but when all the spots are filled with ‘only five minutes’ it means that the people who have a legitimate need for those spaces then have to go somewhere else and walk a significant distance.

“While walking isn’t a problem for me, it’s the thoughtlessness and the abuse of these spots by other people that frustrates me. They’re being selfish by occupying the space when they don’t need it.”

Mr Laughton also believes that more needs to be done about the cutting back of hedges, which block pavements and push people into the road.

“It’s my bugbear that they aren’t properly cared for,” he said. “With branches at eye height, you could be walking down it, not see it and one day it might just catch you in the eye, which is scary.

“Under the Highways Act, if the branch crosses your line, it’s your responsibility. People need to think about others who have different abilities and aren’t as easily able to walk.”

Mr Laughton finds navigating around A-boards on the town’s uneven pavements difficult. He said: “If I’m walking up to a bollard and I take one tiny step to the right, I don’t know for certain that I’ll miss it because I can’t see on the right, I walk with my left shoulder to the wall on narrow paths as I fear I’ll fall into the road. It’s a nightmare down Bell Street where people seem to have no sense of their surroundings and no manners.”

Mr Laughton believes that A-boards should be removed in the town. “A good shop can set up the window nicely with what it sells and what it offers,” he said. “They don’t need to have it in the way. The trouble is the shops start to compete about who has the best and biggest board.”

Devante Claridge, 33, a community engagement officer at charity MyVision Oxfordshire, was born with retinitis pigmentosa, which makes cells in the retina break down over time.

He said: “Henley has a lot of visually impaired people in what is such a small area. It’s hard to manoeuvre around, especially in Henley.

“Henley is a dog town and people with their long leads make it difficult for people to manoeuvre when they don’t have consideration for the dangers it can cause.”

Mr Claridge, who tends to avoid the town on bin days, says there needs to be more awareness from others of their surroundings.

He said: “I feel that because it’s a very upper-class area, everyone feels like they are entitled, even to their own public space.

“There are exceptions when people are kind and offer their help by opening a door, for example, but since the covid pandemic, it’s become so much harder because people have become more selfish.

“It would help if people could be more aware of their surroundings because when you’re partially sighted, you’re more reliant on services and people and it can be quite lonely.

“I saw the difference having a dog made to how people approached and treated me. I think people assume you can’t see at all if you have a dog but when you have a cane, people don’t seem to have the same respect but I think it’s a lack of understanding and education.”

A spokesman for the district council said: “We ensure we balance the needs of disabled drivers with other car park users when allocating the number of disabled spaces in our car parks. All vehicles in our car parks in the middle of Henley should adhere to the three-hour limit during the day.”

A county council spokesman urged residents to report highways issues via Fix My Street, on its website. He said: “We have a process where we give notice to the property owner that their vegetation, hedges or trees are causing a hazard and need cutting back.”

A spokeswoman for Henley Town Council said letters were sent to retailers last year to clarify the rules on A-boards. New retailers also receive an information pack.

l What do you think? Email letters@henleystandard.co.uk