AMAS campaign for access ramp to Great Central Way
8th June 2021 saw the culmination of eight years of waiting for an access ramp to be built from the Marsden Lane Car Park onto the Great Central Way. This project had been considered by City Council and rejected on and off for eighteen years, but in 2013 AMAS decided to campaign for the project to be revived and for a ramp to be built.
Anne Hayto was Chairwoman of AMAS during the campaign and she was invited by City Council to open the ramp as an acknowledgement of the way in which AMAS has worked constructively with the council over a long period to bring the ramp to fruition.
Sir Peter Soulsby and Cllr Adam Clarke spoke about the importance of the amenity for disabled people and other users and how obstacles both in regard to funding and design were eventually overcome to achieve the impressive structure that stands today.
In her speech, Anne said: “It’s not until you become disabled that you fully realise the obstacles to everyday life that disability brings. When my late husband John needed to rely on a mobility scooter to get about, he was unable to access the Great Central Way and we realised how necessary a ramp was. We saw not only disabled people struggling, but families with children and bikes, parents with pushchairs and cyclists, all lugging their bikes and pushchairs up the steps and people who just struggled to walk up the steps. We called a public meeting and lots of people turned up. Sir Peter Soulsby and Cllr Clarke came along and were very sympathetic to the idea. It wasn’t an easy project but AMAS worked with the council throughout and the result is what we see here today. I think it is a great example of how community groups and councils can work together to make good things happen. I am so proud to be a member of AMAS because we have achieved so much on Aylestone Meadows.”
See also Leicester Mercury article here.
Grand ramp opening, 8 June 2021