Move obstacles off paths to help people with disabilities - Newbridge Access Group

Move wheelie bins, sandwich boards and other obstacles off the county's footpaths to help people with disabilities.

That's the message from Newbridge Access Group (NAG) in advance of Make Way Day 2022 which occurs tomorrow. 

"September 30 is Make Way Day, a day of action to improve the access of our towns and cities for everyone. Members of Newbridge Access Group came together earlier in the week and did a walkabout to bring about awareness of the obstacles that frequently block their way. These are things that the public has control over.  For example: cars/vans parked on footpaths, wheelie bins on footpaths, kegs on footpaths, sandwich boards/ signs on the footpath directly in the path of travel, overgrown hedges, bikes and scooters tied to lampposts/railings/bikes on footpaths," said a spokesperson for the group.

Cllr Peggy O’Dwyer MCC and Mary Kilgannon

The Disability Federation of Ireland encourages disabled people and advocates to use social media and all networks, to share the campaign materials. Whether that is re-tweeting, sharing a video on Facebook or Instagram to share their own story using the hashtag #MakeWayDay22. 

As a long-time member and Chairperson of NAG, Martin Kelly has been advocating for all things accessible for blind and vision impaired along with other vulnerable folk, to get them safely around the streets. 

“The biggest unnecessary offenders are badly parked cars or similar vehicles on the public footpaths. Of course, as a cane user I find it hard to circulate freely on bin day as the bins are often blocking my way and are often left on the pavement for quite a while after emptying. So, I would like to appeal to shop owners and restaurants, residents and other associations to urge their members to be more careful about where they place bins, sandwich boards, coffee tables and chairs and to trim overgrown hedges and branches. If all these obstacles are removed disabled people will be able to get around more easily," he said.

Newbridge Gardai have increased monitoring of illegally parked cars on footpaths. 

Cllr Peggy O Dwyer commented that unfortunately after three years absence of Make Way Day the same obstacles remain.

"Sandwich boards particularly on the narrow footpaths, industrial and household bins remaining on the paths many hours after collection or not restored at all. There is also a problem of bins no longer in use but never removed by the provider and used by others. A further problem identified by our access group is the presence of scooters on the footpaths. While legislation is outstanding on scooters there needs to be some awareness programme around their safe use as a mode of transport," she added.