Who cares about people with disabilities using the sports centre?

Published: 19 May, 2011

• DOES Camden care about the disabled users of Talacre sports centre?

It’s hard to imagine a project so anti-social as the Talacre development. Here is just one example to add to those in earlier correspondence.

If you visit Dalby Street, now, you find at certain times of the day and week most of the six residents’ spaces taken up by cars with disabled badges. That is in addition to the three dedicated disabled spaces. The facility is used by many disabled people.

If the 55 flats are built, only three of the nine spaces will be available. It gets worse. Those spaces can be used by disabled residents of the (car-capped) flats, their visitors and of the medical centre. Nothing in any agreement can make more space – it simply doesn’t exist. 

All that could be done to alleviate the situation would be to restrict the use of the three bays in some way but that would be a long way short of maintaining what is now available.

JULIA McCORMACK, NW3

Safety first

• NUMEROUS letters about the Dalby Street, Talacre development have pointed out how detrimental it will be to the sports centre owing to the restricted nature of the new narrow road which starts 2.7m from the Prince of Wales Road and needs marshals to manage it.

What is astonishing is that there has been no road safety audit carried out on this new road because it is a private road. That is appalling.

Camden should commission a full stage-one Road Safety Audit otherwise it will be guilty of a ignoring the safety of those going to and from its facility. There is no excuse. 

NICK HARDING
St Ann’s Gardens, NW5