A bumpy ride

We’ve just heard the good news about the improvements to the pavements and pedestrian areas in Taunton. Fine stuff.

But hold on, what about Hatch Beauchamp?

I recently tried to take my disabled daughter out in her wheelchair for a ‘walk’ around the village - an absolutely impossible task. The pavement surfaces are so poor, broken and uneven, I tried the road, but that was so rough she nearly tipped out.

I had another go later with my granddaughter in her buggy but gave up at the garage - our grand village tour curtailed.

Hatch Beauchamp is to all intents and purposes inaccessible in the received sense of the word. What pavements there are are unacceptably sub-standard. The wheelchair-bound are trapped. The car is king.

We know central government is prepared to spend £30bn plus on new trunk roads while denying local councils the ability to fund small-scale projects in their catchment. Villages like Hatch are being denied a fair deal, a fair share of the national ‘pot’.

We live in a lovely village, it should be fit for everyone.