‘Ridiculous hazard’: Disabled woman calls for car park redesign

INJURY: Perth resident injured after tripping over raised ledges at St Catherine’s Retail Park

A disabled woman has hit out at the design of a Perth retail park car park after she injured herself in a fall.

Heather Innes of Perth tripped over raised ledges that have recently been placed on top of the disabled bays outside Dunelm Mill at St Catherine’s Retail Park.

She said the entire car park was an issue for people with disabilities, labelling it “congested and narrow”, and has called for the company in charge to make it safer.

Heather suffered soft tissue damage and said her rheumatoid arthritis was affected by it.

Her glasses were also damaged, forcing her to fork out for the repairs.

She said: “I took a very heavy fall over a ledge sticking out which resulted in several injuries.

“I also required new lenses for my glasses which were badly scratched in the fall.

“To my knowledge, no other disabled parking spaces in Perth have this ridiculous hazard.”

She added: “It’s important that the car park is refurbished.

“I would not want any other disabled driver to be injured.”

Property development company Montagu Evans, which deals with the retail park’s car parks, said it was sorry to hear about Heather’s fall.

In a statement, it said: “We take the safety of all users of the retail park extremely seriously, including customers and shop staff.

“We have a duty of care to customers of the park and ensure that the park is inspected regularly and any defects repaired.

“The retail park has recently undergone a significant refurbishment with new paving and landscaping and a car park layout partly designed to slow traffic down to improve safety for pedestrians.

“There are more disabled parking bays with properly demarcated walking routes.

“The wheel stops are positioned to stop cars rolling on to the paved pedestrian areas and are black with reflective markings to ensure that they contrast with the car park surface and are therefore clearly visible.”

Heather said that the car park overall is “just badly disorganised” and is “not safe”.

She added that those responsible need to “hold the hot potato”, and take responsibility for the necessary changes.

I took a very heavy fall over a ledge sticking out which resulted in several injuries. HEATHER INNES

Picture: Kenny Smith. Heather Innes by the raised ledges placed on disabled parking bays.