Imagine trying to leave your house, only to find that someone’s left a heavy metal bar across your door. The bar is too heavy for you to move yourself. You’re stuck. You’re sure that this wasn’t done intentionally, so you phone the person who left the metal bar. You explain that they’ve blocked you in your house and ask them not to do it again. Now imagine that this person doesn’t listen to you. Most Tuesdays they leave their metal bar blocking your front door. You never know what time they will come so you’ve been blocked out of your house until someone else can move the bar for you. Sounds like a ridiculous scenario, doesn’t it? Well, this is the situation I find myself in with the Nuneaton And Bedworth Council blocking disabled access to my house with bins.
Instead of going through the whole story of the council blocking disabled access to my house, I thought I’d share with you the complaint letter I wrote to the council, which explains the situation.
Dear Sirs,
I am disappointed to have to email you with this complaint.
I am a disabled woman living at [insert address]. I have have a number of medical conditions, including hypermobile Ehlers-Dalos syndrome. This causes pain, fatigue, subluxations (partial dislocations) and many other debilitating symptoms. As a result, I need to use a wheelchair or mobility scooter to leave the house.
Four times the access to and from my house has been blocked by bins. This has happened with both black and brown bins.
The first time, the council were unaware of my situation. I phoned the council, explained my situation and asked that access to my property be left clear. This should’ve been the end of it.
The second time, I had been out to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. I came back to find that my access had been blocked by my bin and the bin of my next door neighbour (no. 19). Thankfully, the food shop delivery driver had arrived early. I was able to ask him to move the bin for me and he kindly obliged. I phoned the council to inform them, was told that my details would be passed on to the waste management team and that someone would call me back to discuss. This phone call never happened. Had the delivery driver not been early, I would’ve been stuck out in the cold waiting for a kind neighbour to help.
I should point out at this point that this occurred in the winter and that the pain associated with my Ehlers Danlos syndrome is significantly impacted by the cold.
A week later, I was blocked in my house again. I again phoned the council. The customer service assistant was very understanding and sent a member of waste disposal management to move the bin for me. When I enquired about the phone call I hadn’t received regarding the previous incident, she told me that it’s not standard practice for waste management to phone people. So why had I been told to expect a phone call? The member of waste management arrived within 2 hours and offered to put me on the Pull Out service so that the bins wouldn’t be left blocking access to my house.
However, the waste disposal manager also made two comments that I did not feel appropriate. He moved the bin and then told me that there would’ve been enough room for me to fit through, as my wheelchair is only small. I’ve attached a picture of where the bin was before he moved it. There wasn’t room for me to get my wheelchair past.
It’s very unhelpful for someone who hasn’t used a wheelchair to make judgments of what a wheelchair user is capable of. This comment also didn’t take into consideration the size of my mobility scooter, which is bigger than my wheelchair. Physically, my view point is lower than someone standing. I’ve also experienced first hand the problems of trying to fit through a space that is too small. Squashing your hands between your wheels and another object is painful! Ending up with a cast wheel (small wheel at the front of the wheelchair) down in the gravel by the path leaves me stuck, unable to get traction with one of my main wheels because of the it’s off the ground. Fighting to get my wheelchair out of this is exhausting and I risk injury in trying.
A non-wheelchair user telling a wheelchair user what they can and can’t do is ablesplaining, whether intentional or not.
The second comment about not being able to control where our neighbours put their bins. I found this insulting to our neighbours, who have always been extremely kind and considerate. The suggestion that our neighbours would block me in, all be it unintentionally, felt very much like the member of waste disposal management was trying to avoid taking responsibility.
And then we come to today. Despite being on the Pull Out service, the bin was not put back properly. One wheel and a portion of the bin was left overhanging the path. Yet again, access to my property was blocked. I phoned the council and yet again was told that my comments would be passed on to waste management.
I don’t believe that members of waste disposal are deliberately blocking my access. However, there is clearly a break down of communication.
Why is there not a suitable system in place to make those collecting bins aware of residence’s access requirements?
What are you going to do to correct this?
Seeing as this has happened several times, what are you going to do to convince me that this won’t happen again?
Yours faithfully,
Now, Nuneaton And Bedworth Council state on their website to expect a reply to your complaint within 10 working days. I waited the 10 working days, but had still heard nothing. I chased this up with a phone call to the council and was told that my complaint email had been received. The customer service operator told me she would send the Waste Management Team an email, asking them to call me urgently. Guess what!?! I’ve still not had a phone call. However, I did receive a letter, supposedly addressing my concerns, three days later.
The letter I received apologised for the council blocking disabled access to my house. At least that’s a start. It seemed to show genuine concern, but wasn’t very well written. The letter assured me that the member of staff who came to move the bin would be made aware that they had been inappropriate and this is not acceptable. It also assured me that both council staff and contractors would be made aware in writing and verbally that access to an from my house must be kept clear.
However, there was a sentence that was unfinished, reading “It is wholly inappropriate for my officers to pass comment on personal matters irrespective of the .” In addition, one of the sentences read “the matter is of concern to me and i will be monitoring the situation to ensure the issued do recur.” Yes, that sentence really was lacking any capital letters. I’m sure this is a typo and should have read “…ensure the issue does not recur.” However, the irony of this typo has not been lost on me.
I also noticed that, while I’ve been told that the situation will be monitored, I haven’t been told how. This has left me wondering whether it actually will. Is the Customer Feedback Coordinator (who didn’t sign his name on his letter) going to drive down my road every Tuesday to check the bin has been put back properly? I suspect not.
I really hoped that this letter would be the end of this. That’s probably naive of me. I thought the inconvenience of staff having to come out and move the bin would have done the trick. I also though being put on the pull out service would have solved this.
Despite receiving this letter on Saturday, when I came out of my house on Wednesday morning I was met with the bin having been left overhanging our path. I want to believe that the council just haven’t had a chance to inform their staff. But having been complaining for months, they’ve had plenty of opportunities to fix this. I do wonder what staff are instructed to do when it comes to the pull out service. To me, it’s obvious that someone on this system needs their path to be kept completely clear.
This is unbelievably frustrating! Imagine not being able to arrange to see friends or book doctor’s appointment on a Tuesday! Imagine having hospital appointments come through your door and dreading that they’ll be on a Tuesday! Then when they are, spending the whole day dreading that 1. You won’t be able to get out of your house to the appointment and 2. If you are, you might not be able to get back into your home afterwards.
The council’s lack of understanding, care and consideration have left me feeling like a second class citizen in my own home. I have and continue to contribute to society, both locally and nationally. I’ve taught in local schools. Though I’ve had to stop this due to my health, I continue to teach from home. I was a leader-in-training at a local Girl Guide groups until my health deteriorated. I currently volunteer with three national charities. Yet I am prevented from doing basic tasks because of my council blocking disabled access to and from my house. Even if I didn’t do these things, there is no excuse for denying me access to the outside world! The council either don’t understand what I’m asking of them – leave my path clear – or they just don’t care.
I’m not sure how I can be clearer to stop the council blocking disabled access to my home. Four complaints and still access to and from my house is being blocked.
I’ve considered putting a sticker on my bins to stop the council blocking disabled access, but I don’t want to advertise to strangers that I’m vulnerable. I’m also not sure it would make any difference. Dan has suggested that as the council are acknowledging receipt of my complaint but not acting on it, we should acknowledge our council tax bill, but not act on it. Initially I thought this would be playing a dangerous game. That is could come across as petty and we could loose other services. But the longer this goes on for and the more I’m blocked in/out of my own house with my complaints ignored, the more I think it’s our only option.
Why is it so hard for a basic request to be met? The council blocking disabled access to my house is not ok and needs to be fixed. So I have three questions:
As a disabled person, have you experienced your council blocking disabled access? What did you do to rectify the situation?
As an able person, were you aware that the council blocking disabled access is a common struggle for many?
Nuneaton And Bedworth Borough Council, what are you going to do to fix this?
UPDATE: Within hours of this post being published I received a phone call from a senior manager of the Waste Management team. She came to my house for a meeting, which went very positively. I now feel that I’m being listened to and am hopeful that the situation will now be resolved.
UPDATE: It is 22nd June, 2021 and the council are still blocking my path with bins, as shown in the photos below which were taken today. I have escalated this issue to the ombudsmen on at least 2 occasions for failure to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act of 2020. Yet it still continues.
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Its just all wrong. Why should you be trapped in your house due to someone’s laziness to move a bin a foot in another direction.
I don’t have issues with the bin as I can’t get out but I do have problems with any form of deliveries to my house. We have had to put a disabled sticker on the front door so people wait. I know you say it may make you vulnerable but it might be your only option as clearly nothing else has worked so far.
Wish you best of luck, as it seems your complaint letter is falling on deaf ears xxx
Thank you so much sweetheart! It’s been very frustrating. I’d like to think that it’s not laziness and that no one would do this knowingly. I definitely think there’s been a break down in communication and suspect that staff on the street haven’t been made aware that I need my path to be clear. However, this is harder to believe having been put on the pull out service. It does make me wonder what the staff’s training consists of in terms of the pull out service.
I’m lucky with deliveries. We have the same few people delivering and they’ve quickly become very understanding. Has your sticker made a difference?
Thankfully, I think this blog post has done the job. Within hours, I had a call from the council. One of the manages came out an hour later and we had a meeting about what’s going on. She’s going to put extra things in place and conduct an internal investigation. She’s going to look into whether additional training would be beneficial and I’ve said that I’d happily work with them on that. I’m hopeful that things will improve with this lady on my side. Xx
Hope this means an end to all your problems honey.
We have found things have improved since the sticker went up. There is still the odd problem but it’s definitely much better than it was x
Thank you darling! Unfortunately, this week’s collection didn’t go well and the bin was left overhanging the pavement. I’ve emailed the member of management who came out to see me and her response was lovely. She’s even more angry than I am! I’m so glad that the sticker has helped! Xx
I honestly can’t believe this has happened again! It is horrendous that you feel like that in your own home, and to be spoken to like that when addressing the problem. I definitely think you made the right decision in writing this post and I really hope it gets resolved soon. Completely unacceptable behaviour! Gweni xxx
Thank you so much for all of your support with this sweetie! It’s really appreciated. The meeting I had as a result of this post seemed to be really positive. The lady who came out to see me was really understanding and has already put things in place to improve matters. Fingers crossed that they work. She’s going to look into what’s happened and has mentioned the possibility of additional disability training for staff, which I’ve offered my help with. Xx
I almost cannot believe what I’ve just read. This is absolutely disgusting!!
The only suggestion I can give is to leave a clear note on both bins explaining the situation. It’s very sad that the council/waste management company aren’t able to communicate this to their staff in a simple way but going to the staff directly can’t hurt… I’m sure they would understand if you left a note or had a chat with them. They might even apologise for what they’ve done already.
Hope you’re well,
Rebecca, libfemblog.com xo
We have considered this, but I don’t want to advertise to strangers that I’m vulnerable. Unfortunately, because of my photosensitivity, I have to avoid the bin van because of the flashing orange light on it. So I can’t speak directly to staff. I’ve also been advised that there is a large turn around with staff and that there’re several teams, so talking to one set of staff won’t solve the problem.
Thankfully, this blog post seems to have done the trick. Within hours, a member of management had come out to my house for a meeting. She’s going to conduct an internal investigation to find out what’s gone wrong and has advised teams, with photos, exactly how the bins need to be left. I have her direct number to call if problems continue. So hopefully this will be the end of the problems. Xx
I have this issue a lot, I have an electric wheelchair, Every other Monday the road leading to my kids school is blocked by bins and if It’s raining then there’s nothing I can do as trying to move past gets me stuck in the mud. Nothing worse than having a stranger push you out of the mud.
As for signs we have one on our door as the postman expects us to get there in 10 seconds, they just ignore it, I actually told the postman off yesterday because he was hanging on the doorbell and trying to knock through.. he got sheepish when I said ‘There’s a sign, I’m disabled it takes me a while to get to the door’ he admitted he hadn’t even noticed the sign *sigh*
Hope they pay attention soon xx
That’s so frustrating and not just for you. People often forget to consider how things like this impact parents with prams of pushchairs, whom I’m sure there are quite a few of trying to access the school. Having to go out in the rain with a wheelchair is hard enough, without extra hurdles. I don’t know how you manage.
Ugh! Why is your postman ignoring your note!?! I do wonder whether, if I were to put a note on the bins, it would be ignored or not. And with the addition that I’d be advertising my vulnerability, it just doesn’t seem worth it. I hope your post man is more considerate now that you’ve pointed out the sign to him.
Thankfully, within hours of this post going live the council had contacted me and come for a meeting. The member of management was fantastic and very understanding. She’s going to conduct an investigation into why my complaints have fallen on deaf ears and is personally going to insure that it doesn’t happen again. I was thrilled that she also suggested they might add additional disability training and I’ve offered to help with this if they want me to. Fingers crossed that’s the end of being blocked in the house. Xx
Glad you are seeing some resolution to this situation.
This whole post was a good reminder to me as an able bodied person to be more aware of the needs of others. My whole street leaves our bins out on the pavement on collection day and there is no way a person in a wheel chair could manoeuvre around the bins. A blind person would also have difficulty. So many things that I just take for granted!
Thank you so much!
I’ve been overwhelmed by how many able people have been shocked by the difficulties I face and want to know more in order to be an ally. I often wonder who mothers with prams or pushchairs would manage too, particularly if they have other young children walking with them. Xx
Thank you sweetheart! Within a few hours of this post going live, I’d had a visit from one of the managers at the council. She was lovely and very understanding. She understood that the physical barrier has an emotional impact and is putting things in place to stop this from happening again. She’s also going to conduct an internal investigation and look at whether additional disability training would be beneficial, which I’ve offered to help her with. Xx
This angers me so much. They shouldn’t be leaving bins on pathways at all- not even those who are able, it’s just poor customer service. Common sense would dictate to avoid leaving them on a pathway. Hopefully the meeting helped, keep us all updated, please!!
I can understand bins being left on the pavement if there are no other options, but not on a path to someone’s house. I’ve had two more frustrating weeks, but things seem to be sorted now. Xx