People living in vans and caravans on the edge of a cemetery in East Bristol hope that a previously padlocked gate will remain open. The gate allows them easy access to water from a tap inside the cemetery and avoids them having to walk to a gate in the far corner of the cemetery, a task they say is particularly difficult for those with disabilities.
The cemetery gate by Rosemary Green currently stands open but was padlocked shut two weeks ago. The van-dweller community living on Greenbank View in Eastville claim the gate had been recently shut by the council after a resident complained but say that the majority of local residents support the gate being open.
Llama who moved onto the site after becoming homeless said that when the gate was closed it meant they had to walk a longer distance, carrying heavy water containers, a task she finds particularly difficult with her auto-immune condition. Llama told Bristol Live the gate had been open since April but was closed after the council received a complaint from a local resident.
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Llama said: “Last week the council came and put a chain on the gate and stopped people from using it. We’ve had complaints from all the local residents who use the gate on a daily basis to get to and from school and work. Some of the parents are saying it shaves off 30 minutes to their journey, walking to and from school. The lock’s been removed, I don’t know who’s done that.
“To me it seems like they are just clutching at straws to find any way to make our lives as difficult as possible here so we move on. With the gate shut, we have to walk all the way around to the main entrance of the cemetery to get water and then back, which is fine for able-bodied people but when you have an auto-immune disease it becomes a challenge.
“I struggle to get my water. I can’t carry water that far because I’ve got problems with my body. I’m not the only person with disabilities here either. Carrying 10 to 25 litres of water is a lot of weight to be carrying for that kind of distance.
“I care for someone locally who uses a wheelchair and they come to the cemetery regularly now that they can get in through that gate. There’s multiple people in wheelchairs and disabled people who come through this way.
“After they locked that gate again there were disabled people who had walked through thinking they could use that gate only to find it locked and that they had to walk the long way around. There should be some kind of warning or notice if they are going to do it.”
The council has been contacted for comment.
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