Houndshill Shopping Centre

Reviews (1)
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Location:

17 Victoria St, Blackpool

Ratings:
  • Staff Helpfulness
  • Ease of Access

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Features:
  • Accessible parking spaces
  • Accessible toilets
  • Personal assistance
  • Step-free access
  • Help points
  • Lifts
  • Changing Places

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Reviews (1)

theBigRedKeith theBigRedKeith

This review will shock many who don’t rely on a powered wheelchair and a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle, but much of Blackpool’s car parks and all of Houndshill Shopping Centre parking is specifically designed to exclude wheelchair users who need to park a WAV. This can’t be so I here you protest, well, not only is it true, I approached both Blackpool Council and the Houndshill Management to raise my concerns, only to be told, that is our policy and we are not discriminating, your needs are extreme.

So, what’s the problem, every car park around Blackpool and Houndshill has height restrictions of 6’3″. Fine for a car, but virtually all WAV’s are over that. Couple that with the vast majority of the barriers hang low in the centre, and pretty much all WAV’s are excluded from every car park in Blackpool. Blackpool Council say, park in one of the street parking zones. For those that don’t know, these aren’t the usual single bay per car, these are 200+ foot bays on the main road, in the one way system. So no room to use a vehicle with a ramp or wheelchair lift, and if you did, there are no drop curbs to get bark onto the pavement. So you’re left with the option of exciting your vehicle onto a main road and the having to wheel down it to the shopping centre and hope all the cars queuing behind you are paying attention and allow you the extra time you need. In todays society, unlikely.

So we eventually decided to park in a coach bay in the coach station and hope we didn’t get a parking ticket.

Then came the track to the shopping centre. Aside from the broken pavements, smashed glass, vomit and dog mess assault course, that journey was manageable. Once in the Houndshill Shopping Centre, things did improve somewhat.

The main thoroughfares were bright, clean and easily manoeuvrable in both manual and powered wheelchairs. The signs and information points were clear and at a height suitable for wheelchair users, something far too many shopping centres overlook. Unfortunately this is one of the few plusses in this centre and the lifts to the disabled toilets is a prime example of abysmal design and no thought for wheelchair users. Once a wheelchair user wheels into this inexplicably small lift, there is no room foal anyone else, certainly not a carer, which leaves the wheelchair user to try and press the lift buttons themselves.

The carer has to dash up the stairs and wait for the lift to arrive to assist their charge out whilst trying to hold the lift doors open. This assumes that the lift ever arrives because each time the doors close, some bright spark presses the lift requests button and the doors open again. Funny to them maybe, just a bit degrading to the wheelchair user when they do it repeatedly for a giggle.

We are fortunate to live in a tolerant and inclusive society, except a significant proportion of todays youth and middle aged still think its a giggle to laugh at, humiliate and harass disabled people, especially wheelchair users.

So eventually I do make it to the next floor where the food hall and disabled toilets are. Someone forgot to tell these people that once you’re inside a disabled toilet in a powered wheelchair there still needs to be room to feckin get out of it. There certainly isn’t room for a carer to aid you out of the chair, not unless you keep the toilet door open. And with a kiddies ride immediately outside the disabled toilets you can imagine the number of offences you’d be charged with if you tried to get assistance while partially clothed.

We did have some amazing service at Carphone Warehouse but its only fair we do a separate review for them.

Would I return to Houndshill as a wheelchair user? Not until hell freezes over, the place is an utter disgrace. If I had an option I would never return to Blackpool either, but I don’t.

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