“A dream come true”: Not just another drop-kerb in the ocean 

A Grantham father’s drop-kerb dreams have been made a reality by LCC Highways team – seriously improving his family’s daily life.  

David Arnold of Tennyson Avenue has been struggling to get his adult daughter Keeley, 23, who has cerebral palsy, to and from their adapted car because of a high double kerb outside his house.  

David suffers from arthritis in his hips and has previously had issues with Keeley twice ending up on the floor in the middle of road whilst trying to cross from their council house to the vehicle.  

He said: “Because Keeley is adult, if there’s any sort of issue with getting her down the kerbs then I can’t do anything to catch her. The drop was so big that Keeley, who isn’t very stable on her feet, can find it very difficult to manage the change in level. 

“To see her in the middle of the road, and me not being able to get her back up, was terrifying.” 

David, who has lived in the house for 16 years, said that the changes would mean he and Keeley would not have to cross over the busy road twice a day to get her in the car, and he could instead park right in front of the house. 

He added: “I’ve got a son and an older daughter, who has valproate syndrome, but she is able to help me with Keeley when possible, but the situation is far from easy. 

“It’s a worry all the time, really. The road out front isn’t good for parking at all. I have to cross a busy road twice daily to take Keeley to the Cree Centre.” 

After reading about a previous unsuccessful application to the district council for a dropped kerb outside the house, the county council’s Highways team got together with contract partners at CF Construction and Balfour Beatty to come up with a plan to help.  

Working for the community 

A site assessment with the companies and Virgin Media, who would need to move a digital box in order for the work to happen, found that each firm’s diaries could be lined up with LCC’s schedule of works. In other terms, the planets could align and expertise, materials and manpower was able to be offered up to get the work done. 

It began with Virgin Media moving the equipment had been outside David’s house followed by a small gang from CF Construction turning up the next day to remove the considerable old double kerb and re-build a section of the footpath. 

The result has seen a major change for Keeley’s access to and from the house and David can now get his daughter to their car without the fear of her falling from her wheelchair, or losing her footing when walking.  

Councillor Richard Davies, Executive member for Highways at LCC said: “We picked up the story after reading about it in the Grantham Journal. You read a lot of stories and think, ‘if only we could help’, and this was one of those instances where the story is very compelling.  

“The fact that we’ve been able to give David and Keeley access addresses that really big concern about how he gets his daughter safely in and out of the car. In terms of a need, that’s something very defined and it’s something that we could arrange with others to solve. That’s really how it came together. 

“We can’t do everything, everywhere, every time, but in this instance we could. I’m very pleased that we and our contract partners plus Virgin Media have been able to get everything lined up between us so that this could happen.  

“This work here has ticked all the boxes and done exactly what we’d hoped for Mr Arnold and Keeley. 

“It’s about helping people to help themselves. This is not about people who expect someone else to do everything for them. We’re talking about facilitating people to go about their lives and live as normally as they can. This type of community work does that, because it means mobility isn’t an issue. 

“You talk to some people and read some real horror stories of people not leaving the house, because it’s too difficult and there have been incidents that Mr Arnold has told me about previously where his daughter had real issues here and was outside for quite a period of time. As a result, the pressure was clearly getting to him.” 

Making a difference 

Whilst it’s not the case that every dropped kerb request can be carried out by the county council – most of them will come under the scrutiny and assessment of the relevant District Council – this latest coming together by several companies and LCC shows that smaller, ad-hoc projects such as this can happen.  

Cllr Davies added: “Where we can, we try to help. We can’t do everything everywhere, but I don’t think that’s a reason not to help people out when we can. 

“If people are aware of others in the county who have issues, then please speak to your local county councillor and if it’s something that we can help out with, we will.  

“Half the battle is just getting that information about people in a similar situation to Mr Arnold. It could be a kerb like this, or it might be a case of putting the right experts in touch. But whatever the case-by-case situation is, where we can help, we will. 

“If somebody is struggling at home, please reach out to your county councillor, and we will do what we can to help because that’s basically what we’re here to do.” 

Once the work was complete, Mr Arnold explained exactly what the benefit will mean for his family: “Keeley doesn’t realise what safety is or if a car is coming at her, so it’s literally a godsend. The actual drop kerb is brilliant. It’s the biggest issue out of the way for us now. 

“When I had the phone call from Cllr Davies I couldn’t believe it. Out of the blue, it was brilliant. It was a shock because getting this work done for us was a big step. Then to see it actually happen was a dream come true. 

“Within a few days of Richard’s phone call, Virgin Media had moved the box and then as soon as they’d gone the groundworks team was out there getting the old kerbs out and the new layout in place. 

“This has really made a massive difference to Keeley and myself. We’re hugely grateful and it’ll make things so much easier for us on a daily basis. 

“It’s a dream come true for us.”