I am getting annoyed. (A bit more than that, actually.)
I am angry at the money which is wasted whilst people’s needs are ignored.
I asked my local council if there were any grants available to businesses to help them install a hoist and changing bench at their premises in order to improve access for disabled people. There are no such grants.
Money is tight and I understand that. The council has a lot of responsibilities and I have met some councillors who truly do care.
Yet I constantly read stories in my local paper (and sometimes on the BBC news) where so much money is being wasted that it is simply beyond my understanding.
Take for example the recent “pavement-hogging Hayle pelican crossing” which nobody can quite believe. Do click the link to see the photo!
Or, worse still, the now infamous Truro bus lane.
From the BBC news: It cost £30,000 to create and will cost another £30,000 to remove and reinstate the blacktop, said Councillor Bert Biscoe, Cabinet member for transport.
He said the cost was covered in the scheme’s contingency spending and was “a very small amount of council tax money”.
I appreciate that each department has a separate budget but why is it okay for one department to waste money on obvious bad decisions whilst another department is struggling to meet the needs of vulnerable people?
It isn’t!
If £60,000 really is a small amount of council tax money then there is no excuse not to fund a Changing Places toilet in Truro city centre.
One could be installed in the Cathedral toilet where there is already a toilet large enough for a bench and hoist. Or maybe a business could be approached to house it? We could also site one at Malpas park and still have plenty left over to improve other aspects of Truro too!
Cornwall Services installed theirs for a little over £6000.
The manager described it as “a drop in the ocean” when it means people are no longer excluded.
Turns out it is actually a mere drop in the ocean of what gets wasted in some areas!
So yes, I am angry.
Ordinary Hopes 
Hi, I live in Truro and I can see your point of view that there are more places needed for disabled access to toilets with benches and hoists. As to that bus lane, I’m still in disbelief! They obviously employ people with no common sense! xx
#fortheloveofBLOG
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Hello local lady! Since I wrote this I have been astounded by so many other wastes. People keep sending me links on Facebook to other atrocious mistakes, including spending £100,000 on importing trees from Italy to line the Camborne/Redruth link road. The trees died and were then replaced with Acers. Yet they can’t put in an accessible toilet in Truro? Or get the hoist in the one at County Hall fixed? Especially as my son got stuck in that one! https://ordinaryhopes.com/2016/09/09/problems/https://ordinaryhopes.com/
2016/09/09/problems/
I am very annoyed!
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I care for a young person in a wheelchair and the issue of accessible toilets is very real in Australia, too. Luckily the local swimming pool has change rooms with an adult sized bench and overhead hoist, so that I can take her swimming, the only activity she can participate in where she doesn’t feel disabled. We, too, cannot plan day outings unless there is a truly accessible toilet available. Thank you for the work you are doing to raise awareness.
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Hopefully, between us all, we can make the whole world better.x
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Wow it does sound like there is a lot of money being wasted! It makes you wonder who on earth makes the decisions about budgets! Thanks for sharing on #fortheloveofBLOG
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