At the start of the pandemic, Machynlleth Co-op locked their front door to make all customers enter through the car park door at the rear, making it easier for them to regulate the number of customers in the store and prevent overcrowding. When coronavirus precautions ended, the Co-op front doors remained locked. I and a few other local customers emailed them to ask them to reopen the doors, but received no response.

I have since been told by a member of Co-op staff that they have decided to make this permanent to prevent shoplifting, even though it comes at the expense of pedestrians who are disabled, elderly, or pushing prams.

I am a part-time self-propelling wheelchair user without a vehicle, which means that when I go to Co-op I have to go all the way around to the back of the store to enter, shop, and then go to the back of the store, out and around the outside of the building, to get back to the main road to head home - whereas before the pandemic my trip was a lot shorter, saving me a lot of energy and pain.

It's also a very car-centric decision, which is really disappointing in a very environment-conscious town characterised by its proximity to the Centre for Alternative Technology and its strong and vibrant climate activist community.

Machynlleth Co-op, please reopen your front door to support parents and customers with mobility issues, and to encourage environment-conscious choices!

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Quotes from local customers:

• "It annoys me every time. Especially when everything hurts and I need to buy the milk that I can see from the pavement outside but have to go to the back of the shop to go to the front of the shop to go to the back again..." --Anonymous, Machynlleth
• "I’m on foot with 4 kids in tow, so I’d really rather not go all the way round with the cars." --Jenny, Machynlleth
• "It seems like the Co-op have decided to prioritise the convenience of car-drivers over the wellbeing of pedestrians. Would there be so little argument if they permanently locked the entrance from the car park, and all drivers had to walk around to the front of the store to get in and out? To get into the store as a pedestrian, you now have to dodge around bollards and walk along the road to the car park, which has no actual pavement. This is really difficult and unsafe for anyone with mobility issues." --Avery, Machynlleth
• "You have to wiggle around that horrible bollard corner in a wheelchair which is so hazardous because it slopes in two directions and towards the junction where cars are turning off the main road into the car park, and you can't see if there's people coming." --Anonymous, Machynlleth