A series of improvements are underway to make it easier for wheelchair and pram users to navigate around Swanage town centre in Dorset.
Dorset Council, which is responsible for the maintenance of highways and pavements, is now starting work to put in new dropped kerbs and make some existing kerbs flush to the road at junctions, prompted by requests from local residents and supported by Swanage Town Council.
In future, it will be easier to access the closed section of Shore Road from the pavement
Accessible Swanage asked for its views
Working to a limited budget of £10,000 to improve pavement access, Dorset Council consulted with Swanage Town Council about where best to spend the money. In turn, the town council asked the group Accessible Swanage for its views.
The group was formed to champion accessibility for residents and visitors with limited mobility, including those using wheelchairs and disability scooters to get around Swanage.
Members of Accessible Swanage took council officials on a tour of the town centre and discussed areas which, if improved, would help them most.
Along Shore Road by The Mowlem, it was pointed out that wheelchair users find it difficult to access the closed road area from the pavement.
Now two new dropped kerbs will make it easier for all those with mobility issues to use the wider space of the old road area to navigate along the seafront or cross over from one side to the other.
In the long term, it’s hoped to get rid of the old roadside kerbs completely and level the whole area, as part of planned flood defence work, but the Environment Agency has yet to get its business case approved in order to proceed with the plan.
In the meantime, the new dropped kerbs should create better access along the seafront.
The kerb height at the junction of Mermond Place with Station Road is to be improved
Many of the kerbs like this one at the junction of Commercial Road with Station Road have sunk over the years rather than lowered!
Worn down by use
In other areas, many of the old Purbeck stone kerbs have been worn down by centuries of foot traffic, making them almost flush with the road surface.
In these locations, strips or fillets of tarmac will be added to the road surface to make it more level and smoother to wheel over the pavement onto the road. There will also be some minor kerb repairs.
New lowered kerbs and improvements at the junction with the High Street and Mount Pleasant Lane
Filling in the gap between the pavement and the road should make it easier for wheels
Kerb work to be completed
- Shore Road – One new pair of dropped kerbs opposite / facing each other on east and west side of the carriageway
- Entrance to Commercial Road at junction with Station Road – both sides of footway tarmac fillets on both sides
- Entrance to Mermond Place at junction with Station Road – east side only, tarmac fillet and minor kerb repairs
- North side of the High Street, opposite junction with Mount Pleasant Road – two new dropped kerbs
- Entrance to Mount Pleasant Lane at junction with the High Street – Both sides of footway, tarmac fillets and minor kerb repairs
In the future Accessible Swanage would like to see this pavement widened as it can be impossible to get round when cars are parked on this stretch of the lower High Street, but a solution has yet to be implemented
More accessible for wheelchair and pram users
A spokesperson for Swanage Town Council said:
“We have worked closely with Accessible Swanage and Dorset Council to identify locations for new dropped kerbs and tarmac fillets to make Swanage more accessible for wheelchair users and those pushing prams.
“There is a limited Dorset Council budget for this work so it has been targeted in the busy town centre area, to most help our less mobile residents access shops and facilities.
“We are grateful for the input from Accessible Swanage in prioritising the areas most in need of improvement.”
This work is in addition to the new lowered kerbs and pedestrian crossing points on Station Approach near to the Co-op, which was completed in February 2025 and paid for by Swanage Town Council.
Further information
- Follow Accessible Swanage on Facebook
