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What are the archives?

Dropped Kerbs
23rd January 08
Why are there not double yellow lines in front of drop kerbs? Surely letting cars park in front of them defeats their purpose.

It is not Portsmouth City Council policy to protect private property with double yellow lines. Double yellow lines are only used for Road Safety and or traffic flow. Entrance markings are enforceable by the Police under the current Obstruction legislation.

Parking across dropped kerbs
14th January 08
I recently saw a women on a mobility scooter trying to go from the road onto a path, but was blocked by a car parked in front of a drop kerb. Is it illegal to park in front of a drop kerb? If so why are there not double yellow lines in front of them?.

It is not illegal to park in front of dropped kerbs therefore it can not be enforced by the police or parking attendants unless double yellow lines are present.

Accessible walks for wheelchair users
6th November 07
Could you tell me where there are wheelchair accessible walks in and around Portsmouth other than along Southsea seafront please ?

We have a wheel chair accessible site known as Hilsea Lines which has woodland, lakes, meadows and even a section of ancient monument which is partially accessible by wheel chairs. To access the site there is a combination of kissing gates and gates with RADAR locks. The best places to access the site are on London Road by Solent Citroen and Peronne Road near Scott Road (nearest postcodes for a Multimap search are PO3 5LS and PO2 9RR)

Information about Hilsea Lines can be found under internal links.

The best place for information about Hampshire walks outside Portsmouth would be the Hampshire County Council Rights of Way web listed under external links. (NB. I think the best accessible down land walk that is quite near to here is Old Winchester Hill, details are contained on the HCC Leisure and Tourism web site).

Help for disabled gardeners
6th November 07

Both ourselves and our neighbours are OAPs, my husband is registered disabled and so are my neighbours.

Last year when the new Waste Management scheme was implemented, we were told that we could have 15 green bags free in order to help us cope with our garden waste. We were told that it was possible to purchase additional supplies of green sacks at a cost of £25 per set.

This year when we reapplied, we were sent an application form asking questions which I did not feel was appropriate and I simply replied "same problems as last year only one year older and now coping with lung cancer problems". Our neighbours did a similar return.

We were sent 5 bags and told it was at the discretion of the Waste Department. Our neighbour was told he did not qualify. When our neighbour rang and queried why he could not get the free bags he told he must complete the form IN FULL; they then sent him another one, which he duly completed and he then received the "discretionary" 5 free bags. He contacted waste department and offered to pay for a further supply; he was told he could no longer purchase the bags, and that he should get in his car and take the bags to the tip. He is in in 80's, very frail and recovering from a bad fall. He is a War Veteran (rear gunner on Lancaster bombers) and deserves better treament than that by a desk bound council employee!

I did ask who was qualified in that department to assess medical conditions and needs. I also asked if the form was legal and who had decided to change the terms and conditions since last year. I contacted our three local councillors who have been unable to help.

The Council stopped collecting garden waste as part of it's normal refuse collection in June 2006. The alternative for residents was to take up the offer of a free home compost bin, take garden waste to the Port Solent Recycling Centre or to one of the monthly garden waste drop off days in Southsea and Copnor. Residents who do not wish to use these alternatives have the opportunity to purchase plastic garden waste sacks from the Civic Offices, at a cost of £25 for 15 sacks. These sacks could then be put out and collected as part of the refuse.

As we understood that some residents would have difficulty physically using a home compost bin and do not have their own transport to get to a composting site, we introduced a free garden waste sack service.

In such circumstances where all members of a household meet the following criteria, the Council will provide up to 15 free garden waste sacks in a one year period:

· Cannot physically manage to use a compost bin and

· Cannot arrange for garden waste to be composted via a third party, such as a gardener; and

· Cannot transport garden waste to the Port Solent Recycling Centre or the drop off points for composting.

This criteria has been in place since June 2006. At first, this was meant to be assessed by the City Help Desk when taking a telephone enquiry. However, time pressures on staff time and call queuing times meant that this was often very difficult to do. It resulted in a number of residents inappropriately being sent free sacks. Since September 2006 this has now been assessed using a relatively simple application form. Residents should use this form to explain why they feel they should be entitled to free sacks. This approach allows us to better evaluate requests and has helped to ensure that sacks are appropriately provided. All information is held confidentially inline with data Protection Act. We can only base decisions upon the information supplied on the form and occasionally a resident may dispute the decision reached. This is actually quite helpful since further dialogue often clarifies the situation for both parties.

At the bottom of the page there is a form for you to print out and fill in to apply for the garden waste sacks.

Older Person Activities
9th October 07
Dear Forum

What services are there for retired people in this city. For what ever they are they appear to be few and far between. And yet the senior citizen ratio for this city is I imagine one of the highest in England……………………… The Equality Forum - what are you going to do for senior citizens in this city - who deserve so much more than the second class - second rate - second everything that they now receive.

There is a wealth of information about physical and social activity opportunities (for the 50+ age group) on the new HIDS website www.fit4life.hids.org.uk, these activities are organised and run by a vast array of organisations across the city. The HIDS website, www.hids.org.uk also has a range of information on other projects and services for older people in the city. The other major provider of services and activities for older people in the city is Age Concern Portsmouth. More info can be found at www.ageconcernportsmouth.org.uk.

Epilepsy
3rd September 07
I am a Portsmouth resident who has recently been diagnosed with generalised epilepsy. As a result of this diagnosis, I am required, by law, to contact the DVLA to surrender my driving licence. At present, my only way to get about is by using public transport, which I am finding rather expensive

I understand that Portsmouth City Council run a concessionary bus pass scheme. Would I be eligible to apply for this? If so, what benefits does this scheme provide?

Yes, people suffering from epilepsy are entitled to come onto the concessionary fares scheme. In order to apply they need to come into the Civic Offices (Cashiers office, ground floor) with either a doctors letter or notification from the DVLA that they've had to give up their driving licence. In addition to this we would need to see some documentation with their Portsmouth address on.

They would be entitled to either a Free Off peak bus pass (after 9am Monday to Friday, free at weekends and bank holidays) for use in the Hampshire area, or Travel tokens. Travel tokens are generally used for taxi's but most other forms of public transport will also accept them, i.e. trains and ferries. A full year's allocation of tokens is £37, at the current time these are pro rated to £21.50.

Access to Shops

Now that I use my wheelchair more due to my disability I'm finding it more difficult to use a couple of the shops in North End.

Who should I speak to please ?

Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) large and small businesses need to make sure that, as far as possible, they treat disabled customers in the same way as non-disabled customers.

Portsmouth Disability Forum operates the Shopability Scheme here in Portsmouth and would be pleased to hear your comments about access issues regarding the shops in North End.

You can contact: PDF (Portsmouth Disability Forum)-Frank Sorrell Centre, Prince Albert Road, Southsea, Hampshire,PO4 9HR

Tel: 023 9281 5266

Address: Email: contact@p-d-f.org

Disability Event
17 July 2007
I went to a disablity event before christmas in the guildhall. It was really a really good day and I sat on a table talking about access to public transport. We were told that this was only the first stage and we would be invited back to take the issues forward. I did leave my name and contact details but I have heard nothing back. Please can you tell me if I am able to get involved still or has it all finished.

Firstly thank you for your involvement in the Disability Event. It was a great success, and laid the foundations for the new Portsmouth City Council Disability Scheme that was launched in March 2007. We are now setting up action groups, that will, working closely with service providers, look at what we can do to overcome any of the concerns or issued raised at the event. These groups will be made up of both community groups and individuals from the local area. We are really keen that the action groups really are representative of the community, so if you would like to be involved please contact us on 023 9283 4069 and we will give you more details.