Give my son, 6, a chance to play
DAD CALLS ON DEVELOPERS TO ADAPT SITE ON ESTATE TO HELP DISABLED JACOB
THE father of a schoolboy confined to a wheelchair is furious that plans for play area to be built near their home will have nothing his disabled son can use.
Dan Biggs, 32, said when he saw the plans he was upset as there would be nothing for his son Jacob, who has cerebral palsy, to use at the new Hill Top View estate children’s park, off Reservoir Road in Burton.
He said when he saw the plans he felt Jacob was being discriminated against.
Mr Briggs has launched a petition to get the plans changed so there will be equipment Jacob can use. Now, after being contacted by the Burton Mail, one of the housing developers responsible for the park says it is happy to review the equipment.
Jacob, who attends Fountains School in Burton, was born early at 24 weeks and suffers from quadriplegic cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
His lorry driver dad, who also has an 11-month-old son, Theo, said: “It is absolutely disgraceful. I live on the new estate and the plans for a park were shared on a Whatsapp group at the start of the first lockdown.
“When I looked, I saw straight away that there is no accessible play equipment being put in place and as my son who’s almost seven, and extremely disabled and in a wheelchair, I felt annoyed that he wouldn’t be able to use the park.
“I set to try to see if the developers [Strata and Davidsons] would have a look at resolving this and I have been fobbed off for over a year. Why in 2021 don’t they look at disability access and inclusion?
“I would have suggested a basket swing, a flat-floor roundabout and maybe a low level trampoline.
“It is absolutely disgraceful. I feel we are being discriminated against.
“Someone said why not travel to a park? My response was why should I when the park is within walking distance?
“And if you know the area there are steep hills both sides so we would have to travel in the car and when I’m at work he is too heavy for his mum to constantly lift in and out of the car, plus, we have an 11-month-old baby boy.
“It shouldn’t be the case of only some individuals travel when others don’t have to. Every child has a right to inclusion.”
Mr Biggs launched a petition calling for all new parks on housing developments to be disabledfriendly.
The Equality Act does not compel developers to make all play areas suitable for disabled children as ROSPA (the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) says it would be impossible to make a play area totally suitable for all forms of impairment.
A Davidsons Homes spokesperson said: “The proposed play area has been designed to the approval of the local authority. However we are quite happy to review the equipment which is being provided.
“We would like to liaise directly with the customer as to the most suitable equipment prior to the works being carried out.”
Stata Homes has been contacted for comment.
To sign Mr Biggs’ petition, visit the website www.change.org.