27-04-2025
Rye campaigners call for better accessibility in town on 'Mobility Awareness Day'
ITV Meridian's Megan Samrai reports from the demonstration in Rye
A demonstration has taken place in a Sussex town to highlight the accessibility issues many disabled people can face in their everyday lives.
A group made the journey through Rye in wheelchairs, holding a 'Mobility Awareness Day.'
Campaigners wanted to show how difficult it can be to get around the town for disabled people and are calling for improvements to pavements and kerbs.
They said they don't want accessibility issues to be people's first impressions of the historic town, but want it to be more inclusive for all.
Able-bodied people were also invited to join the demonstration in wheelchairs to experience the challenges firsthand.
One of the organisers, Dan Lake, said accessibility issues include "people parking on the paths, blocking drop down kerbs. Paths that are broken." And he said they want to raise awareness of where drop down kerbs could be introduced.
"It would be nice for everybody to get around Rye and not have to worry 'I can't go there, I can't go there.'"
He added that problems in the town aren't only affecting wheelchair users, but people with mobility scooters and pushchairs or prams.
Wheelchair user, Nikita Cunningham, said: "It can be really lonely when you don't really know where to go. There isn't much in the way of information."
"I've found other people to talk to today that can tell me where places are that we can go. And it's been so nice to know that there are more options because I'd avoided town for a while for that reason."
Another wheelchair user at the demonstration, Sheila Goldsmith, said: "We can't access the town properly. We know it's an old town, we don't want it to change. But small changes to dropped kerbs would be a great thing - and a few more shops that are accessible."
A spokesperson for East Sussex County Council said: 'We receive many requests for dropped kerbs in public areas and recognise how important they are to those who rely on them to access shops and services.
'Due to the significant financial pressures the council is facing, we only have a limited amount of funding to develop local transport improvements, including dropped kerbs, and prioritise our work to ensure that funding is distributed equally throughout the county.
'We are currently in the process of evaluating and approving dropped kerb installations for this financial year, including potential sites in Rye, and the approved locations will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
'Inspections of all our pavements are carried out regularly by our Highway Stewards to ensure the 1,500 miles of footpaths which we are responsible for across the county are maintained to a safe standard.
'While the pavements in the centre of Rye are inspected every three months as part of a walked inspection route, we would always encourage residents to report any concerns directly to us via the East Sussex Highways website to enable us to take any necessary action as quickly as possible.'
