York Green Party is supporting calls for more to be done to enable blue badge holder to access York’s Christmas Market.
York Green Party chair Denise Craghill has pointed out that in previous years during the Christmas period the Dial- a-ride minibus service (which ceased operation last December) WAS permitted within the footstreets to take elderly and disabled people to and from the St Sampson Centre.
Denise Craghill said “In Sept 2023 we responded to the Labour administration’s access consultation, opposing the suggestion that blue badge holders might have to be excluded during some events. Greens said that once the anti-terror barriers were in place, officers should be directed to find ways to safely allow all blue badge holders access throughout the year.”
The party’s submission wrote “We do not believe it is fair or in keeping with a human rights approach that blue badge drivers should be excluded at the very times of year when the city centre is the most attractive and special for everyone else. If the design and layout of markets and festivals needs to be amended to accommodate access then this needs to be part of the solution.”
Party chair Denise Craghill added “We welcomed the move to enable blue badge access for much of the year for those who most need to park or be dropped off very close to their city centre destinations, but we are now very disappointed to see such slow progress on wider improvements for all disabled people and people with limited mobility.
“Since Labour took over in May 2023, York’s ‘Dial a Ride’ service has folded and not been replaced, the administration has scrapped any work on trials for a free city centre shuttle bus and now Labour councillors are telling us that they were too slow off the mark a year ago to make provision for safe blue badge vehicle access a year later, during the 2024 Christmas Market.”
