Disability campaigner in battle over council plans

A disability campaigner has described council plans to adapt her bungalow for her powered wheelchair as "ridiculous" and a "waste of money".

Dr Deborah Lawson, from Congleton, in Cheshire, has been locked in a battle with her local authority and housing provider since 2016, when she was moved there following a fire at her previous property.

She said some of the rooms were currently completely inaccessible.

Cheshire East Council accepted the situation had caused Dr Lawson and her husband "significant distress" and said it was working to address their concerns.

Property provider Plus Dane Housing said it was waiting for an occupational therapist assessment to be agreed before commencing any work.

Dr Lawson said she had not agreed to the council's plans as they would simply waste taxpayers' money without solving the fundamental problem.

"The council's plans amounted to extending part - not all - of the back of the house by 50cm," she said.

"I said, 'You're going to smash up a house [for it still] to be no good'."

She said GPs and physiotherapists had written to Cheshire East Council to support her, but to little effect.

In an assessment letter – seen by the BBC – two occupational therapists said Dr Lawson was currently "inadequately housed to meet her prescribed medical needs" but added the plan for the property would not fully meet all of those needs.

A narrow hall and poor access to it from other rooms made the task of answering the door very difficult, Dr Lawson said

Her powered wheelchair is considerably larger than manual equivalents, and has to be able to tilt to keep her in a position prescribed by medics.

However, she said under the council plans there would only be one position in one room of the whole bungalow where she could tilt the chair close to the extent that doctors had advised.

While the largest room in the house is about three metres by three metres, furniture stops her manoeuvring and other rooms are considerably smaller.

"As soon as you put in a piece of furniture, I couldn't even enter the room because the rooms were so tiny," she said.

"We should never have been moved here."

The situation was very different in the family's previous home in Macclesfield, which was destroyed by a fire in 2016. It had been heavily adapted for her needs.

Since moving, Dr Lawson said the bedroom was too small for a wardrobe, so the couple have to store any clothes in the attic and she said she relied on her husband, who also has arthritis, to climb a ladder to get them each day.

'Bureaucratic stalemate'

She similarly has to rely on her husband to prepare meals, because of access issues in the kitchen, further restricting her independence.

Being unable to use her chair consistently at the prescribed angle had also had an impact on her health, she said.

Dr Lawson's architect Jessica Noel-Smith said her client had become "embroiled in a bureaucratic stalemate".

She said the organisations involved seemed to be "unable to take any action simply because her spatial requirements don't match the basic template" - partly because of the size of her wheelchair.

"You wouldn’t create a t-shirt in a size XXS and be able to sell it as a one-size-fits-all option," she said.

Ms Noel-Smith added Dr Lawson's case pointed towards a wider problem across the UK and also cited "the sheer lack of accessible housing options".

'Find a sustainable solution'

A spokesperson for Cheshire East Council said it understood the situation faced by Dr Lawson and her husband had caused "significant distress".

Various options including adaptations to her current home and alternative accommodation were being explored, they added.

"Our priority is to find a sustainable solution that meets Dr Lawson's requirements and ensures her wellbeing," they said.

A spokesperson for Plus Dane Housing said it wanted to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

"We require an agreed occupational therapist assessment with recommendations prior to us undertaking major adaptations," they said.

“At this stage, Dr Lawson has not agreed to the occupational therapist assessment recommendations made by the local authority."

They added they had agreed to part-fund adaptations with the local authority once they were agreed, and were awaiting further instructions.