Motorists are continually parking over or on dropped curbs in Hereford after Herefordshire Council spent thousands on installing new dropped curbs on roads across the city in recent years to keep our community safe.
In 2018 I started travelling along some of Hereford’s busiest roads in my wheelchair and instantly knew that something needed to be done so we “the disabled community” weren’t killed or injured by passing motorists.
Harrow Road and Plough Lane are located just outside Hereford city centre and used to be seen as an “accident waiting to happen” so I contacted officials from Herefordshire council about the issue who to begin with didn’t recognise that the lack of dropped curbs on some roads was an issue.
It most definitely was and I continued my fight to get a much needed solution aka more dropped curbs in the end I was backed into a corner and forced to enlist the support of journalists from Hits Radio, West Midlands (formerly Free Radio) and ITV News Central.
The outlets both highlighted the issue at different stages of the campaign that eventually saw council act and install 16 pairs of dropped curbs across both roads that overlook the authorities `”Plough Lane offices”.
Westfailing Street and Barrie Road also needed some new dropped curbs but these didn’t arrive until June 2024.
Free Radio News who are now known as Hits Radio, West Midlands were the first media outlet to highlight the issue in October 2018
ITV News Central who are based in Birmingham took an interest on issue in early 2022 and visited the sites to see the issue for themselves and then returned later in the year once the programme of works had been completed to see the outcome.
As a wheelchair user myself I have lost count of how many times I have been forced to back track on myself or use the road as my pavement when trying to navigate around a parked vehicle that is over a dropped curb.
My message to motorists across the county is simple, “even if you have to drive 50 to 100 meters down the road to find a parking space just do it, I know it’s an inconvenience to you, but in actual fact it will mean that we don’t have to risk our own lives”
The findings from a consultation by the Department for Transport (DFT) on the issue of pavement parking that was carried out by the government that Boris Johnson led between 2019 & 2022 have not been released yet. The DFT say that they are planning to publish a formal response to the consultation, summarising the views received and announcing the governments next steps for pavement Parking policy.
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I would like to thank all of the responsible motorists who do take a few extra minutes to find a parking space which isn’t blocking any dropped curbs, it doesn’t go unnoticed and is very much appreciated by our community across the county.
Cam
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