How to sit in a wheelchair pushed over paved sidewalks? Where is a curb lowering for street crossing? And is there a toilet for the disabled in the village hall?? Such questions went the VdK-Ortsverein Obbach-Sommersdorf with a village inspection with profound company on the reason.
Helmut Beck has already inspected around 40 villages. For the past two and a half years, he has been a trained "consultant and inspector for accessibility" at the VdK, one of four in Bavaria. Verena Gerstner, local chairwoman of the VdK Obbach-Sommersdorf, had brought him to the municipality of Euerbach, in order to let examine the local parts one after the other.
In Obbach the village renewal runs for some time, in Sommersdorf the planning of the first projects begins. So it’s good to know what to look out for in public spaces or where there are weak points. Gerstner is also a local councilor, which is why she had invited her council colleagues to Obbach. The five women and two men took it in turns to test wheelchair driving, examine sidewalks, different sidewalks, curb heights and bus stops. At the village square in front of the ash building it went over the pavement in historical optics. "You can already tell it’s a bit bumpy", Gerstner recognized during her wheelchair ride. With later paving even and straight-edged stones were used, informed the Obbacher local councillor Gabi Jakob.
As "ideal Helmut Beck praised the difference in color between the dark asphalt on the street and the light-colored stones on the sidewalk, which is also easily recognizable for the visually impaired. The curb height of 3.5 centimeters also offers sufficient resistance to blind people using canes. At the same time, she said, it is easy to overcome with a rollator, which was demonstrated with a wheelchair. "The aim of the village renewal was to have an area for agricultural vehicles and buses that could be driven over", explained Gabi Jakob in the narrow village street. Beck did not hide that he favored high curbs, as protection for pedestrians. "The village renewal is also always on reconciliation of interests", countered Jakob.
The summary of the VdK tester after nearly two-hour village inspection: "A beautiful, sensibly renovated place with small, removable lacks at the roads and ways. And things that are human, such as parking on the sidewalk." And positive was also that one continues to think barrier-free.