Don't Know Whether To Laugh Or Cry

[hc4361]

Surely it would have been better / cheaper for the council to rehouse the family to somewhere more wheelchair friendly?

I wouldn't fancy pushing a wheelchair, or a pushchair, up and down that ramp.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2558461/We-open-blinds-look-day-Mothers-disbelief-council-builds-40-000-eyesore-wheelchair-ramp-TEN-LEVELS-garden.html

[hc4361]

I've been looking a the article again and laughing like a drain. Sheer stupidity

[Zacs-Master]

Unbelievable.

[mikey4444]

Seems daft to me as well.

[anneasquith]

is it april 1st. ?

[berniecuddles]

you couldn't make it up!!

[Zacs-Master]

Every level helps Chewn.

[ummmm]

Gobsmacked....

[joeluke]

Crazy, which overpaid council official decided this was the best solution???

They've ruined a perfectly good front garden, completely covering it with this metal monstrosity

Why couldn't they have moved the family to a more suitable, accessible property?

...and what happens if/when the family leave the property? Council will surely only be able to house disabled tenant(s) there in future?

[joeluke]

Actually, looking at one of the photos there's a grassy area to the left of the flights of steps. Why couldn't they have built a smaller version of this 'mega ramp' on there?

A short double zig-zag ramp up to each concrete level of the steps would have sufficed and:

a) created much less of an eyesore
b) left the property with a front garden
c) cost far less

(I've obviously missed my vocation in life and should have been Civil Engineer!)

[rockyracoon]

Just seen this on FB.

£40k as well, they must gave money to burn. Ridiculous!

[johnny37]

Blimey! It cant have happened overnight. The lady must have had talks with the council which could have stopped this nonsense and place the family in a more accessible house.

[Tilly2]

I agree with johnny. The householder must have seen what they were doing to her garden. How stupid on all sides.

[pixie373]

Wow. Insane.

[hc4361]

If she owned the house and applied for planning permission to do that, would it have been granted?

[youngmafbog]

A labour council what do you expect?

And the sooner Scotland goes the better if they are like this.

[black_cat51]

Your responses make me so mad. The family "campaigned" for 2 years for a ramp (after previously having said they could manage the stairs) and they got one. Now they are complaining about the aesthetics of it. What did they expect a wheelchair ramp would look like. Wheelchair ramps have to be set at a certain angle, otherwise it's impossible and unsafe to push a wheelchair up them. Especially as the child will only get heavier and more awkward to manage. If they were not happy with the access of their council property, then instaed of campaigning for two years, they should have moved and rented privately. If the council had installed a steep ramp instead, they would have sued when they fell down it! also, if they'd have had a short rsteep ramp, it would have been even more attractive to skateboarders

[hc4361]

If you were responsible for a disabled child would you give up the security of a council tenancy for private rent?

I would struggle pushing a wheelchair and down that ramp several times a day. I dread to think what it would be like in the snow and ice. The spaces underneath the ramp are not easy to clean out and will be become full of litter over time.

Surely there was a suitable home with a level access available? My council as a last resort provide wheelchair lifts which would probably have been no more expensive to install.

I don't understand why you are outraged at our responses, black_cat.

[black_cat51]

and i don't understand why the family are so outraged that they got what they campaigned for. Having had to push a wheelchair recently, even a gentle slope is a nightmare, so a steep slope (especially as a child gets older and heavier) is just too much in my opinion. This thing that they campaigned for so hard over such a long time is what they got, and they have the cheek to complain

[black_cat51]

and perhaps there was another home available, perhaps there wasn't. we just don't know. Perhaps they were offered somewhere else, and turned it down because they didn't like the area, or it was a smaller house? It doesn't give that info. If they had the energy to campaign for 2 years for a ramp, why didn't they spend that energy campaigning to be re-housed?