Local wheelchair user, Sue Bateman, is fed up with the lack of adequate and reliable disability facilities in the local area.
Bateman has lived in the Penrith area for decades and was later diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, causing her to require use of a wheelchair to help her get around town.
Bateman uses the local pools to help her maintain her muscle mass but said the disability services, particularly the hoists at Penrith and St Marys Ripples, were often not working.
“It is the only way I can maintain muscle mass. It’s all I’ve got. It’s just so frustrating trying to do everything I can to be as functional as I can,” Bateman said through tears.
“If it doesn’t affect others then they don’t care. If it doesn’t inconvenience anyone else it’s not a problem for them. But for me, it’s devastating.
“Before I go anywhere, I check that there is a toilet facility I can use because… it affects everything about my day and if there’s no facilities it’s like they’re saying to anyone like me who needs those facilities that we are not really welcome. We don’t really need you or want you in our space because they don’t put workable facilities for us.”
Bateman has shared her concerns over Ripples with Penrith City Council multiple times – the first time in 2023, when the hoist at Penrith Ripples wasn’t working.
“I contacted them about getting it repaired and operational and that took five months,” Bateman said.
“When I contacted them, I was swimming laps still but I couldn’t get into the pool and I needed someone to help me in and help me out so I stopped swimming for five months.
“By the time they finished that hoist I could no longer swim freestyle… I became confined to a wheelchair and then it was a case of I needed a hoist to get me into a pool chair and a hoist to get me back into my chair.”
Bateman then started to go to the hydrotherapy pool at St Marys Ripples but experienced similar issues.
“About a month ago the ceiling hoist in the changeroom broke down. I made a complaint to Council and so did my carer. But then we had to queue to use the hoist in the disability bathroom because most of the people going to the hydrotherapy pool are disabled in some way,” Bateman said.
“For three weeks it was a really slow process, waiting and waiting and waiting with people queueing… how is it that Council provides these facilities but they are not maintaining them?
“It was just so frustrating. They need to regularly maintain the adult change rooms with ceiling hoists because it is very frustrating when you need to go to the bathroom and you need to use the ceiling hoist and it doesn’t work.”
Penrith City Council said disability access is available at both venues and defended its record in relation to the provision of such services.
“Penrith City Council operates two swimming pools and a hydrotherapy centre at a subsidised rate to ensure equitable access to the venues which are available seven days a week year round,” a spokesperson for Council said.
“We are one of the only Local Government Areas that has a dedicated fully publicly available hydro facility. All our pools have hoists with corresponding pool chairs to assist patrons in gaining access to the pools, along with the indoor pool at St Marys having “beach access” with zero depth, no lip access.
“We understand and respect that our residents and patrons will make their own choices in how they use our venues and what is suitable for them. To assist patrons our staff are available.”
Emily Chate
Emily Chate joined The Western Weekender in 2024, and covers local news - primarily courts and politics. A graduate of the University of Wollongong, Emily has contributed to The Daily Telegraph and worked as a freelance journalist.