Can anybody suggest how to help my grandson?

I take your point but I’m sure I read a report that said we accommodate nowhere near the amount of disabled people that we should. The presence of the fantastic disabled stand hides the true fact that we have barely any room at all anywhere else. Of course, we don’t have to make every area available but there’s still loads of room for improvement, our fans are only getting older in the main.

 

On this note - my Dad struggles a bit with mobility, and that’s one of the reasons we haven’t had season tickets for a few years after 30 years of having them together.

I rung the club and they arranged the East Lower option, coming into the ground via the gate next to the disabled stand which meant both step free access and the ability to drop him out of the car very close to the entrance. They even proactively offered me a free carers ticket with him (which I didn’t take as I wanted to pay the club back) and the whole thing worked brilliantly well.

This is a totally different club to the last regime in the way it interacts with the fan base.

 

As mentioned elsewhere, I don’t think the East Stand lift actually goes to the top level anyway?

The concourses are not suitable points of refuge for disabled users - they are the most dangerous areas. And whilst the building is concrete, it’ll still go up (like Grenfell did) with electrical wiring and the alike.

The requirement by Building Control is to mitigate the risks in the first place. And if they can’t be mitigated, then correct systems in place to manage it.

All this is subject to the club’s insurers too - who clearly deem the risk too high.

 

My main point is the East Stand Upper. I don’t disagree that most clubs could improve availability and access, but to expect it to the top floor of a 25 years old Stand is not plausible and increases the risk of injury. The other stands we have, including the Corner Stand, all have far better access and egress points. Perhaps capacity could be increased in those.

 

Cladding went up at Grenfell - flats were designed to keep any fire contained within each flat. It's why residents were told to stay put.

 

It’s 25 years old, many things things have changed since then though, not only DDA.

How old is your 7 storey one if I may ask?

 

But as usual, the folk who lived there propped doors open and removed self-closers which helped the spread too. This is quite normal in flats across the country.

 

I was told by John Dennis once that the East Stand was the basic stand which was needed at the time and the plan was for the west stand to be the all singing all dancing facilities version of it. Changing rooms, board room, disabled spaces etc. Because of the slope of the stadium the east stand needs far more stairs and there's nothing can be done about that. The west stand is more outside ground level and could cater better for those facilities.

You also have to remember that when the east was built we had a world class (at the time) disabled stand.

 

They should fit a few Stannah stairlifts in the East stand!! The speed they run at they would at least arrive at your seats in time for the 2nd half.

On a serious note I am sure 'fire refuges' could be build on the top concourse as they have in some high rise offices which should address the Insurance restrictions. After all the bloody thing is 90% concrete and steel anyway.

The stairlift comment reminds me of an elderly relative of my wife who, many years ago on Christmas day, was making her way down to Christmas dinner after a 'comfort break' when the stairlift suffered a mechanical/electrical failure. No one in the house was able to free her so she was stuck halfway down the stairs where she was served her Christmas dinner and party hat. They thought they would have to call for the Firer brigade but eventually got a technician out to rescue her.

 

Perhaps the long term plan was for a new West Stand to do this? 25 years ago, the perceived requirements weren’t there.

 

Your point was about the concrete. Cladding was the problem not concrete. Again the units were designed to maintain the fire.

 

Yes I believe this was the case.

The East never lends itself well for disabled access due to the land it’s on.

 

Don't all stairlifts have a manual release on them? Every one I've ever seen has and that's going back 20 years

 

That's true but the east stand is a football stand not a series of small fireproof boxes

 

I agree with the stay-put policy. Usually works fine.

My point was that even a concrete building has fire risks and potential to travel.

 

The building I worked in was opened in 2010. A big part of my job at that time was overseeing it’s completion so I got to see the advice provided by Fire Officers and our insurers. Both were comfortable with staff and students that had mobility issues using all areas of the building. The building had 4 lifts.

We had regular fire drills and could clear the building in under 5 minutes without using the lifts. (These remained in operation to allow firefighters quick access to the upper floors).

 

So around 8 years old then. There’s the difference. Although I suspect if money and land wasn’t an issue, the ideal building layout would have been on one level. But I know they’re both limited.