Disabled fans trapped in mud

Jul 13 2007 Andrew Welsh

FESTIVAL organisers insisted yesterday that steps will be taken to improve disabled access after wheelchair users were left stranded overnight at T in the Park without food or toilets.

The dire situation arose after a deluge of rain turned the designated disabled campsite into a no-go zone, likened by one festival-goer to a prison.

PA reader Gordon McKee, who attended at Balado with his daughter Chloe (23), hit out at an alleged lack of planning by organisers that left disabled music fans trapped in their tents throughout the festival’s entire first programme.

“Me and my daughter arrived at T in the Park at around midday on Friday,” he said yesterday. “Both of us had been looking forward to it for months and Chloe was talking about nothing else.

“However, when we got to the disabled camp site, we discovered that it was in a terrible state, all churned up and deep in mud. When we eventually got our tent up we found we were completely stuck and it was impossible to move away because of the state of the ground.

“We assumed that something would be done to alleviate the situation so we waited patiently for this to happen. “Unfortunately, despite getting messages to stewards about our plight, nothing was done.

“The hours went by and we were still stuck.

“Not only were we unable to get out to see any of the acts but we had no access to food or water and my daughter could not get to the toilets.”

Mr McKee eventually decided he had no option but to carry Chloe 150 yards on his back through knee-deep mud to reach the toilets.

“I had wellies on at the time and it was a real concern that I could have been injured if I had fallen,” recalled the full-time carer.

“It’s pretty hard to lift in the mud and my daughter is 23 so it’s not like she’s a two-year-old.

“The worst of it was that nothing was done until the next day to help and it wasn’t nearly enough. They put some decking down that only reached part of the way so I still had to carry her about 50 yards.”

Mr McKee said the disabled campsite’s occupants had “paid handsomely to be imprisoned in a hellhole”.

“The whole scene was very reminiscent of a Third World refugee camp,” he groaned.

“We could see over a wall to the ordinary camp site and it was okay. It was only the disabled campsite that was in this condition.

“We eventually went to our beds at around midnight, still trapped where we had been all day, with nothing to eat or drink and not able to get to the toilets.

“The scenario was an absolute disaster for wheelchair users. It was a complete disgrace and totally unacceptable to leave vulnerable people isolated like that. It’s not as if it’s unusual for it to be raining in Scotland.

“We accept that once we get in the main arena there will be mud and that’s part of the festival experience.

“But this was taking things too far and whoever gave the disabled campsite the okay needs to take a long hard look at themselves because there’s no way in the world they got it right.”

In the wake of Friday’s fiasco, Mr McKee, from Ayrshire, is demanding the creation of a disabled people’s forum to look at ways of avoiding any repeat situation next year.

He said: “We eventually had a meeting with the events organiser, who said he’d like to meet with us again to decide how to improve the situation for next year.

“They also put a roof on the disabled viewing platform this year and that’s to their credit.

“Don’t get me wrong: we love T in the Park and after getting out at lunchtime on Saturday we had a wonderful time.

“We’re hardened T veterans and we certainly weren’t expecting a five-star hotel. But Chloe can’t get out of her chair at all and this was a hellish experience to have to go through.”

T in the Park’s event manager Colin Rodger pledged to introduce new measures at the festival to address any potential weather-related access problems.

He said: “We have spoken individually to a lot of the audience at the disabled camping area and we are aware and disappointed that there were issues experienced, particularly on the Friday evening caused by the bad weather.

“Although a great deal of planning and contingency is put in place before the event, the full extent of the weather conditions was unexpected.

“We have listened to the feedback from the campers affected and we will ensure that the planning in this area is reviewed for 2008.

“We do already make a huge effort each year to accommodate music fans of all levels of ability, despite the constrictions of a rural site such as Balado, and last year we actually received a number of letters of thanks for our efforts.

“This year we had proactively made improvements to the viewing areas in the main arena, including covering the platform at the main stage, which we think worked extremely well.”