The Star: November 04, 2021

The Star Thursday November 4 2021
8
NEWS
Construction
of Coastal
Pathway’s
‘missing link’
to start soon
WORK TO complete the
‘missing link’ in Te Ara Ihutai
Christchurch Coastal Pathway
from Ferrymead to Scarborough,
is about to get under way.
The final section runs from
the east end of Redcliffs village
around Moncks Bay to Shag Rock.
The makeover is due to start on
November 15 and is expected to
be finished in mid-2023.
Contractor Fulton Hogan has
been appointed by the city council
to carry out the work.
City council acting head of
transport Lynette Ellis says the
project will mean users can safely
and easily travel the whole length
of the Coastal Pathway, and
appreciate the estuary environment
– creating an attraction for
residents and visitors.
“The existing sections of the
pathway are very popular with
around 5000 trips a week at the
Ferrymead Bridge end, and we
expect this number to grow with
the path connected up.”
New drinking water, wastewater
and stormwater pipes and power
cables will be laid in Main Rd in
advance of the construction of the
4m wide path.
• By Chris Barclay
SARAH KERR accepts you
probably mean well, but if
you have the urge to help the
wheelchair-bound cerebral
palsy sufferer unprompted, then
please push off.
Don’t take it to heart but
the Sumner resident, who
has needed a wheelchair for
mobility purposes for three
years, says the unsolicited assistance
has had an unfortunate
side-effect.
“I’ve had several encounters
with people pushing my
wheelchair without asking me
if I wanted to be pushed, these
incidents have caused me to have
a panic attack,” she said.
“It’s got to the point where I’m
nervous to have people I don’t
know near me. I’m actually
scared.
“I know they mean well, but
going up and pushing somebody
in a wheelchair is akin to coming
up and carrying an ablebodied
person, just randomly
picking them up and carrying
them. You just wouldn’t do that,”
she said.
“The wheelchair is pretty
much an extension of me so
they’re pretty much coming
right into my personal space.”
Kerr admits needing assistance
boarding and exiting
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Ask before you push a wheelchair
the bus to and from work in
Riccarton, but otherwise she is
content travelling at her own
speed.
However, members of the
public will often push her at
intersections and gentle rises.
“It happens all over town. My
natural reaction is to turn round
‘It’s got to the
point where
I’m nervous to
have people I
don’t know near
me. I’m actually
scared.’
– Sarah Kerr
PUSH
NOTIFICATION:
Sarah Kerr
has reminded
well-meaning
members of
the public
not to lend a
helping hand
by pushing
her wheelchair
without
permission.
PHOTO: GEOFF
SLOAN
and yell because I’ve been given
a fright.
“There’s actually very little
time when I do need help,
but other wheelchair users
could be different,” she said,
before issuing advice to good
Samaritans.
“Don’t push somebody without
asking. The best thing to
do is say: ‘Do you need help?’ I
usually say: ‘Thanks for asking
because not many people do’.”
Asked if investing in a
motorised wheelchair was an
option for the artisan weaver,
Kerr replied: “No, the wheelchair
is my exercise.”
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