Trapped behind gates just too heavy to move - Action promised for the wheelchair users who face daily struggle to get out of their estate
Published: 30 April, 2010
by PETER GRUNER
Wheelchair users on an Angel housing estate are struggling to push open new manual-only security gates which they say are too heavy to use.
The gates on the Popham estate were featured in the Tribune last month after it was revealed they can be opened by strangers acquiring emergency keys from local hardware shops. But disabled residents and mums pushing prams say it is “always a struggle” to get in and out of the estate because of the way the gates do not open automatically.
Now Homes for Islington (HfI) – the borough’s housing agency responsible for the estate – is being threatened under the Disabled Rights Act unless it improves the gates.
There are 20 gates, costing up to £10,000 each, on 10 walkways used by 240 tenants and leaseholders on the low-rise estate off Essex Road.
Wheelchair user Peggy Archer, 77, said she can no longer get out on her own since the gates were installed because she is unable to open them. “When I’ve pressed the button the door has to be forced open,” she said. “Then I have to somehow keep the door open with my hand while trying to get in or out. I just don’t have the strength in my arms.
“I always have to have my husband John or someone else with me whenever I want to go out. It’s ridiculous. You don’t have this problem on other estates.”
Mr Archer, 80, who has had heart bypass operations, said even he struggles with the gates. “I have to put my foot there to hold the gate open while Peggy goes through. They are a ridiculous weight. I want to know if they are meant to keep us in or keep people out.”
Residents’ Association spokesman Martin Rutherford said: “These gates are three times the weight they should be. They should also open automatically.
“They need proper adjusting with automatic openers but HfI say they don’t have the money for it. “
A spokeswoman for HfI said: “The gates are properly installed but we are aware that, because they are heavy, some people find them difficult to use. For this reason we are planning to modify them.”