York: Measures to ease city centre blue badge ban 'a disgrace'

Many of York's city centre streets are narrow and pedestrianised

A failure to bring in measures to ease access to York for disabled people following a blue badge ban was a "disgrace", a meeting has heard.

Councillors voted last November to prevent disabled parking in pedestrianised areas to allow anti-terror defences to be installed.

Thousands have signed a petition urging the council to reconsider the decision.

A York council scrutiny meeting heard only 10 of 23 mitigating measures had been put in place nearly a year on.

Jim Cannon, chair of York Older People's Assembly, said: "Most of them haven't happened and I think that is something which, in any ordinary organisation, you'd say was a disgrace."

The measures were agreed to help improve York for disabled people in light of the decision, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

'Disappointing progress'

They included appointing a specialist access officer, creating more dropped kerbs and trialling a city centre shuttle bus.

Councillor Jonny Crawshaw, chair of the scrutiny committee, said he was "disappointed" with the level of progress.

Anti-terrorism bollards are due to be installed next year and most non-essential vehicles are already banned from the footstreets.

Labour councillor George Norman said the law was "unequivocally clear" in that "you can't discriminate against people without putting mitigation in place first".

"The simple truth is you don't care enough about disabled people's lives to spend a few quid on helping them live," he added.

James Gilchrist, the council's director of transport, environment and planning, said £10,000 each was given last year to Shopmobility and Dial-a-Ride services to improve awareness of their offer to disabled people.

He added that several points on the action plan were dependant on the council appointing its access officer, which was in the final stages of recruitment.