Cash given to improve access at rail station
TRANSPORT campaigners are celebrating after one of the busiest rail stations in Salford was given money to improve accessibility.
The funds will be used to install a new lift at Walkden station and it ends an almost five year campaign that saw residents, councillors and community groups call for funding to provide wheelchair access.
For people like Amber Shaw the news means she will be able to use the fastest mode of transport available to her, something she has never been able to. Three years ago, the 16-yearold from Little Hulton was unable to take part in a school trip to Liverpool because there was no access for wheelchairs users at the station.
Along with her mother Deanne, she has since been calling for funding for accessibility improvements to the station.
Deanne said: “We’re happy really.
“Amber’s 16 now and as she grows up she wants to go off and do what every other person does, but we don’t use our local station with her.
“It’s a start, but it’s one station and there’s a lot of other stations to go, for us, access should be a right not a luxury, we’re not asking for something that’s above and beyond,” she said.
Alongside community group, Friends of Walkden Station, Salford councillors Laura Edwards, Richard Critchley, and Joshua Brooks have also been campaigning for the system to be reviewed and more devolution which would allow funding to be distributed according to local needs.
Laura said: “I’m really happy and excited about the news.
“It’s not just for people with wheelchairs but for everyone who travels. I all pretty don’t think people realise how bad it is in Walkden, it’s three massive flights of stairs and anyone travelling has problems.
“The buses in Walkden are great but they only have limited space for wheelchairs and prams. “We’ve been campaigning for wheelchair access in Walkden for years now and Friends of Walkden station have played a great part with this.
“I’m happy that the funding is finally available, but I am disappointed that it’s taken this long,” she said.
The new lift will form part of a package of improvements for the area which includes 107 park-and-ride spaces, disabled and cycle parking and electric vehicle charging points close to the station and the provision of new walking and cycling routes to link Walkden with the soon-to-open RHS Garden Bridgewater.
Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said: “It is a life-changing decision for people who struggle with steps such as those in wheelchairs and with walking difficulties. This new funding opens up a whole new route for them and I am so pleased for them.”
A PARK is getting a new ‘growing hub’ where community groups can boost their mental and physical wellbeing through gardening.
The council’s planning department has granted permission to create a new hub on the western edge of Royton Park, adjacent to the boundary with Bleasdale Street, Oldham.
The site currently forms the gardener’s storage area within the park, and temporarily stores green waste which is then removed to the recycling centre at Arkwright Street.
The new plans will see a new poly-tunnel to grow vegetables and a refurbished container would be used as a room for meetings, classes and a ‘brew’ room.