Julian supports cross-party debate on city centre blue badge access
April 25, 2023
This week, Julian was pleased to be able to speak in an Adjournment debate titled “City Centre Security Measures and Access for Disabled People” where he took the opportunity to discuss the blue badge restrictions imposed in the city centre that discriminates against disabled people who live outside the town centre, particularly in the York Outer constituency.
As part of his intervention, Julian said: “does she (Rachel Maskell, MP for York Central) agree that there is also huge discrimination against rural communities? People from those communities with blue badges who need access to the city centre cannot access it at the moment because they do not have the required public transport. A lot of small rural communities are being left behind because of this policy.”
Julian has been a critic of the overzealous way in which the City of York Council implemented the changes. Following the council’s decision in November to remove the exemption for blue badge holders to park in pedestrianised zones and the planned closure of Castle Car Park which would result in the loss of 31 disabled parking spaces, Mr Sturdy asked the Minister if the Government agrees with him that city centres should remain accessible to all.
Julian was pleased to hear the Minister agree with him that the city centre in York should be fully accessible to all local residents and visitors and remains alarmed that there is even a conversation to be had about this issue.
Further to that, in November, Julian’s circulated a call for signatures for a petition he wished to ultimately present to Parliament as part of his efforts to enshrine blue badge access into law.
After the debate, Julian was quoted as saying: “I support Rachel Maskell wholeheartedly in her attempts to improve access for disabled people in York. The decision to ban blue badges in the city centre by default is unacceptable and we have to find another solution”.
In Chester, also an old Roman town, they use a system that allows blue badge holders to register their vehicles with the council and CCTV cameras can verify the vehicles and reduce the security risk, the reason cited by the council for the de facto ban on blue badge holders. The decision for such a blanket policy is unnecessarily unfair and heavy-handed.
