Pensioner slams poor access to Highfields Resource Centre in Edgerton
Pensioner slams poor access to Highfields Resource Centre in Edgerton
A GROUP fighting to improve services for the blind has criticised a new centre for people with disabilities.
Jean Goodison, chairman of Better Future for the Blind, said the Highfields Resource Centre in Edgerton does not properly cater for the needs of those with disabilities.
The Newsome woman said there is poor access to the site at Cemetery Road and people visiting the centre could be in danger from busy traffic travelling down nearby Egerton Road.
The £3m centre opened earlier this month and offers a range of activities for adults with learning difficulties.
Jean, 69, said: “The lack of access is putting lives at risk – not just for disabled or blind people but for able-bodied people too.
“There is no place to cross safely to the centre and both Halifax Road and Edgerton Road are very busy roads.
“You cannot assume that people going into the building will be using their own transport – especially the blind or the disabled.”
Two years before the centre was built, Jean and other members of Better Future for the Blind conducted a health and safety report of the area and handed it to Kirklees Council.
Jean said: “We walked from Huddersfield bus station up to where the new Highfields Centre would be and did a report identifying a lot of problems with the access.
“Even though we did the report two years ago, the centre was opened and there is no crossing there.
“When you go down Cemetery Road to the building it is dark and hazardous.
“And when you get to the building itself there is a very narrow path that takes you into the reception and there are no hand rails.”
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