As a blind person I am regularly faced with obstructions when making simple trips in the community. Just a walk down my own road can be fraught with hazards, making it more difficult for me to get out and about on my own.

In this photo I am presented with three problems. Firstly, there is a massively overgrown rose bush which I have to navigate past to avoid having my face cut by its thorns. Secondly, there is a tree stump that could easily trip me up if I don’t manage to detect it with my cane. This last one is a constant problem in this area: rows of large black bins left permanently out on the pavement.

Blind people like myself and other Disabled people living in Camden need an easy-to-find direct landline number which we can use to report access problems.

There is no obvious place on the Camden Council website to report any of these three obstructions. The last time I asked the council to remove some street clutter I couldn’t work out how or who to complain to so I ended up asking someone who I’d interacted with regarding other matters to help me out as a favour. This person eventually found someone in the Council who could do something about the obstruction, but it took weeks.

This doesn’t seem an appropriate way to deal with this. There should be a simpler way for a disabled person to get action taken to remove obstructions. Blind people like myself and other Disabled people living in Camden need an easy-to-find direct landline number which we can use to report access problems. This should be made available to all Disabled people in the borough, including those who don’t use the internet.

To read Mary’s letter to the Camden New Journal about street clutter click here