Seating outside in Charlbury – ideas/solutions?

Sat 29 Nov, 14:40 (last edited on Sat 29 Nov, 15:45)

Life swap – this would be a simple and fun way to create awareness of this issue in our town, starting with mobility e.g. a life swap for 30 mins.

It is hard to understand if you have not experienced what it is like for someone else, e.g. mobility challenges and developed empathy as a result of first-hand experience.

• Mobility challenges

• Dementia

• Blindness

• Deafness

• Autism

• ADHD

• Other

I remember from many decades ago in my career hearing about the CEO of Unilever sitting around a board table making massive decisions about cleaning products – what to do and how and where to market them.

The CEO paused in a moment of insight and said:

“Who around this Board table regularly cleans in their home and so understands the decisions that we are just about to make about our cleaning products?” Silence.

A great shift in awareness.

Sat 29 Nov, 13:36

I'm looking forward to hearing if Liz has made any progress with this.

This Saturday morning, I stood with two other males of similar vintage in the rain at the Sturt Close bus stop. It wasn't fun.  None of us owns a car, so we are entirely dependent on the buses.

The others went to the disability-friendly Chippy, where, incidentally, if you "qualify", you can get free coffee at the Co-op there if you take your own mug.  My acquaintances stayed on the X9 to Chippy.  Who can blame them?

I went to Averose Pharmacy (where one can sit down if you have to wait) and then had a light lunch at the Deli before catching the S3 home to Five Ways.  My point is that unless something is done about bus seating and shelters, local businesses will continue to lose valuable footfall.

I'm not an engineer, but I really can't see why a shelter and bench the size of the one at The Bell can't be erected at Sturt Close.  That would be a start.

Thu 20 Nov, 14:07

Portable walking stick/seat are available!

Thu 20 Nov, 13:55

Flip-up seats don't attach easily to old Cotswold stone walls. There might be other ways of solving this problem, but it's hard to know what these might be, especially because of potential vandalism and other safety concerns (including using the seats to climb over walls). 

I have often wondered about this when standing, shivering on The Slade near Wychwood Close, but without any very good solutions. A proper survey is needed! 

Thu 20 Nov, 12:21

Flip-down seats, like in the cinema? Up when not used to let walkers go by, but down when needed for perching?

Thu 20 Nov, 12:16

Claire is right. There is simply no room on the pavement at a number of bus stops in Charlbury for any kind of seating, and the provision of even some minimal kind of shelter would also be very difficult. Perhaps the Town Council could help identify stops where extra seating (or a shelter!) might fit.

Seating wouldn't be possible at my nearest bus stop, Wychwood Close, which is why I sometimes walk to the Enstone Road bus stop instead. But not all buses that stop at Wychwood Close also stop at the Enstone Rd stop.  Also the need to cross the Enstone Road near the crossroads means that it is often a hazardous option for pedestrians.

As far as Wychwood Close is concerned, it's a bitterly cold place to wait. However, my major problems with the stop come in late summer when the overgrown ivy on the adjacent wall make it a mecca for wasps and bees. That, at least, does have an easy solution -- i.e. trim back the ivy on the wall!

Thu 20 Nov, 09:04

This was looked at about 10 years ago as part of the community plan, I wasnt involved but someone else may remember. I think one of the difficulties may be that some of the pavements are very narrow so seating would create an obstacle for pedestrians. 

Wed 19 Nov, 22:43

The W.I. has provided a bench and had it refurbished a couple of years ago too. It is on the little island on Church Lane.  I suppose any group could sponsor a bench.

Wed 19 Nov, 17:46

Thank you, Liz.

Wed 19 Nov, 17:36

A suggestion was made some time ago that benches on the Playing Close - and perhaps elsewhere - could be arranged in a circle to encourage people to talk to one another! I do take your point though that some people are better off being able to sit and wait for a bus. I will raise this at council.

Wed 19 Nov, 12:26

Nicolette is right.

Unfortunately, it's not until one deteriorates that the lack of benches becomes an issue.

Today (Wednesday), after careful logistical planning, I made it to the library and then planned to take the X9 to within walking distance of home.  It wasn't easy standing in a biting wind and leaning on my stick.  Yes, there are benches on the Playing Close, but they all face the wrong way, and besides, I wouldn't be able to nip back to the bus stop when the bus arrived.

It would make a massive difference to those of us with disabilities to have benches by all the bus stops, like they do in Witney and Chippy.  They don't have to be deep - just somewhere to perch!

Wed 19 Nov, 08:36

Steve. The problem is that the 30 to 40 seats tend to be in clusters. I never thought I'd live to say this but we do need a few more seats . Visitors might like them as well as the elderly and infirm

Wed 19 Nov, 07:15

Two years ago I met a couple who had been taken on by the council to paint all the public bench seats in Charlbury - I seem to remember they said there were somewhere between 30 an 40 dotted around. That excluded those in 9 acres; those in the Corner House garden; those in the Community Hall; those outside the various pubs etc. Do we really need more?

Tue 18 Nov, 21:06

Noticing people with mobility issues standing at bus stops with a stick and no seats to sit on in the cold.

As Winter is upon us, pondering solutions. Ideas - 

• Seats screwed into the wall so that they cannot be removed.

• Sponsor a bench/seat by a local person with a plaque.

• Something else?

Great way for locals to have chats too and connect.

I am sure that lots of thought has been put into this already.

The local council has lots of things to fund. Ideas?

What are the barriers/perceived risks in starting/implementing this?

Start with a pilot?