Council chiefs have confirmed revised city centre pedestrianisation restrictions will come into effect next week.
Following feedback, Lichfield District Council said changes would see the introduction of a “hybrid” measure.
Blue badge and permit holders will now be allowed access through the day from Monday to Wednesday.
All other days will see pedestrianisation continuing in line with the existing trial.
Cllr Janice Silvester-Hall, cabinet member for high streets and visitor economy, said:
“We genuinely appreciate the constructive feedback and dialogue we have had with our residents, blue badge holders, businesses and other stakeholders.
“The forthcoming refinements to the experimental pedestrianisation scheme represent the next step in testing what works best for our city centre to make it both vibrant and accessible.
“An experimental Traffic Restriction Order is specifically designed so that we can test how it works in practice and to make refinements in line with feedback. I am pleased we can work together to make this scheme work for everyone.
“As we move forward, we remain committed to fostering an inclusive and pedestrian-friendly environment while ensuring that the concerns and perspectives of our community are acknowledged and addressed.”
Cllr Janice Silvester-Hall, Lichfield District Council
The new measures will be introduced from 8am on Monday (31st July).
In line with legislation, the new order will be accompanied by a six-month consultation period.
For the first eight weeks of the new measures, drivers into the pedestrianisation area on Thursday to Sunday will be stopped and advised of the restrictions until new signage is in place.
Once the new signs are installed the council said “robust management”will start and fines issued.
City centre should be fully pedestrianised. When we the council wake up to the facts rather then scare mongering moaners from those who can’t be bothered to ride 4 mins from the car park.Shop owners, markets, an those who live in the town centre wouldn’t have issues entering. They has already been accidents with disabled drivers clocking with pedestrians in the past. Most town centres in this country are fully pedestrianised and theyve grown. Ive seen many of the comments from those claiming to be disabled and Im very suprised that you expect special treatment. Well guess what, your not special and you will get treated like everybody else in this country. May seem harsh, but this is reality not never land.
Nothing ‘hybrid’ about it. Either the centre is pedestrianised or it isn’t. In pampering to a vocal minority the council have once again becoming a laughing stock….
Glad to see this is going ahead so quickly. Clearly the Council have listened to the concerns of blue badge holders and business owners and are trying to be flexible and find a way forward that takes account of their needs too. It would be interesting to hear from some of the businesses involved once they have had a chance to see how well this system works.
Welcome to the Lichfield not pedestrianised city centre. Just watch your back as you walk around in case someone decides to mow you down. Enjoy a drink outside Beerbohm or a coffee outside Hindleys but always have an eye open for some car driving through the town centre legally or not. Last week they had the Pride festival and as far as I could see there were cars driving through. Yea what a spineless council . Lichfield city is NOT a pedestrianised area and the way they are going it never will be.
Fortunately the council have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for the disabled as they are a provider of services and would otherwise be breaking the law, i.e. discriminating against the disabled.
Nearly 20% or one fifth of the population have some form of disability, all we are asking is some assistance to make getting around Lichfield an easier task, not an impossible mission.
Some of the ignorant comments we receive are more indicative to the intelligence of those that make them, unfortunately it makes Lichfield look like an unwelcoming majority which it is not.
Leave the arrangements as they are, or to be more specific as I have always known the arrangements to be
Shops are struggling for trade.
I cannot see any problems with the way it is currently run. LDC want Lichfield to prosper by tinkering here and there, they are putting businesses and customers off shopping/visiting Lichfield.
LDC are ruining Lichfield City Centre.
Like the Cinema and Shopping project, Lichfield is not big enough to cater for any major redevelopment.
And this includes any Pedestrian Restrictions in Lichfield City Centre
@Local Man: “Well guess what, your not special and you will get treated like everybody else in this country.” Seriously? No, you’re not being serious at all. Would you expect wheelchair users to take he stairs “like everybody else”. Disabled people do need “special treatment” in order to be able to live normal lives, like lifts, wide parking spaces close to amenities, and most of all just a little bit of consideration from the rest of us.
Wait until it’s you who can’t stagger the distance from Bird Street car park to the opticians
Agitator of people
Where did your 20 percent of 67 million come from. That is 13 million. Load of rubbish
AgitatorofPeople Your talking dribble ? If it was law as you suggest then why are the majority of Englands city’s traffic free ? LDC are spineless and weak and no doubt MF has been bombarded with letters by the blue badge holders and in-turn he’s buckled and lent on the council. Let’s see how long it is before accidents start happening shall we?
So people with disabilities are going to be allowed to park on certain days of the week…wow we must have been good to be allowed that. We still won’t be able to visit the market on a Friday and Saturday or even purchase our veg and then collect by driving through. Very disappointed by the council. Sadly I don’t come into Lichfield much now. I used to use shop mobility when it was in the multi storey car park..now it’s tucked in a corner of the Friary car park. When I eventually found it the place wasn’t sign posted and a thick chain was across the door..very welcoming!….
Local mam, I hope you never have any disabilities you are one of the lucky ones. By the way I didn’t ask for mine or want ‘special’ treatment..I just want to be like other able people. As for pedestrianised towns…they very often don’t work ….the busiest places I’ve seen always have traffic going through them and vehicles parked on the road.
@Carl Sholl, There are many different kinds of disability, and no one disability is any “better” or “worse” than another, though some disabilities are different, and call for different responses it doesn’t make you “special” its offensive to call. No one ignores those that need help because the one in need would mostly ask for help, but im assuming you would rather the world stop moving and then come ask you if your in need of help and call you special at the very same time.To remove the disabled parking as too other parking from the centre so its fully pedestrianised is benifical for all and too many benifits to actually write down. I find you question of me expecting a disabled person to use the stairs rather humorist but im assuming your being serious, so my answer is your being a stereotypical narcissist, end of.
@AgitatorofPeople, Your over defensive sends visitors away from Lichfield. What would you prefer? A red carpet thrown out everytime you pull up wanting to go into town?
Local Man, I find your offensive and intolerant comments frankly disgusting. You’re not related to Mr Legs by any chance, are you? Reasonable adjustments for disability have to be made, it’s the law, whether you like it or not, and local authorities and public bodies have a special duty to comply with it. Large parts of the city centre are already pedestrianised, and a concession for disabled people for a small part of it doesn’t seem too much to ask. But that’s too much for people like you, isn’t it? Every town and city needs to be assessed individually for disabled access, as they’re all different, and excluding a significant number of disabled customers doesn’t seem a very sensible way of limiting the general decline in retail premises.
@mike You asked where AgitatorofPeople got his statistics from because they were “rubbish”. I didn’t know, so I looked it up.
Disability, England and Wales – Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk).
That backs up Agitators’ figures. Where did you get yours?
Assellus the actual government figure is 17 percent disabled which is incredibly high but I know there are a lot of fraudulent claims
@ Mike: From the ONS site referred to by Asellus aquaticus:
“The most recent estimates suggest one in five people in the UK are disabled.”
That’s from 3 April 2023.
Seems you’re the one talking rubbish.
@mike So we’re agreed that Agitator was correct in that the official figures for having some form of disability are nearly 20%. You are now changing the goalposts that there are “a lot of fraudulent claims”. So what % of claims are fraudulent, and where are you getting your information? Or is it perhaps you that’s making the fraudulent claim?
So the council has caved in to the vociferous minority. In the past few months the city has been more vibrant, relaxed, welcoming, safe and clean. Which, surely, was the whole purpose of the pedestrianisation. All the visitors we have had in the number of years we have lived here are amazed when they realise that the centre is not pedestrianised. The main objection appears to be people can’t get to the shops without driving through the centre. I would ask how these people manage to get to the shops in Bakers Lane, Market Street, Bird Street and part of Bore Street, all of which are pedestrianised, and where the majority of the shops are located.
Exactly Lawman the badge holders expect car to door parking and nothing less!!! So much for 18month trial as promised and agreed ? Spineless and hopeless keeps coming to mind. Bring on the ANPR cameras and stop all traffic using the City Center, only exceptions are market days and emergency services. £80 fines will soon kept Lichfield free from unwanted traffic.
Lets be flexible. Disabled parking on a Monday and Tuesday in july august september if its raining. The rest of year disabled parking all day if its dry but only between 10 am and 12 pm. On fridays and Saturdays pedestrianise town after 6pm and on Sundays after 5pm. Then for food fairs in the city allow open access to cars, vans lorries and horses….oh and you can drive your sheep into Market St on a Wednesday. Ban all councillors 24/7 from access to Lichfield. Clear as mud. Job done.
No wonder businesses in Lichfield suffer when you make decisions like this what happens when the multi-storey knocked down is this council against disabled people.
I struggle to work out how a chain of over 400 stores is brought down by the parking policies of a small city in Staffordshire.
Reasonable adjustments that is all we are asking for.
So this question is for the abled people, Would you be happy to be barred entry into Lichfield with entry only on Monday to Wednesday and Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday off limits to you?
Why should the disabled have to endure a forced curfew? so the fit and healthy can walk around without the inconvenience of making a reasonable adjustment?
Why should anyone have to take this from LDC?
I’m not saying we have to drive 4x4s willy nilly anywhere we want, but some thought is applied that allows equal access 24/7 365 into Lichfield for the disabled.
Well said, AgitatorofPeople. A voice of common sense in a debate that has seen some pretty appalling intolerance feature in comments.
The discussion is focussed on blue badge holding visitors who have access every day until midday – and Mon to Wed all day currently – and also enjoy increased spaces in Bird Street car park in the very centre of the City compensating for the loss of spaces in Bore Street.
The issues with pedestrianisation as I see it are:
1) shops and residents need to be delivered to, meaning vehicular access e.g. Greggs in Market Street for re-stock, Grocery deliveries to residents in pedestrianized streets
2) residents need vehicular access to their homes and garages and car parking spaces e.g. Dam Street where there are many such examples
3) Taxis require access whilst the taxi rank is where it currently is in Bore Street
4) The policy needs to be policed. There are countless examples I have witnessed of younger families parking outside McDonald’s to collect an order during the period of pedestrianisation, and many food delivery folk doing so during the same, especially early evening
Citizen Smith- I would correct you. Blue Badge holders don’t have access every day until midday, only all day Monday to Wednesday. There was a myth that such everyday access existed under the previous trial – it didn’t.
@John Allen actually, having just re-read the amended ETRO, you are correct: it seems now we now cannot access our own home on Thursday through Sunday!! 😂😂
If Lichfield has become a designated city for the older members of society, much like Sidmouth and other places, then it is likely that ailments associated with age will be more apparent.
It needs adjustment of provisions and facilities together with medical requirements to support their needs.
This is not ‘tongue in cheek’. We all grow old and if somewhere offers these facilities then it is worthy of consideration.
The District Council has to recognise the responsibilities associated with their decisions and liaise with the County Council to address the needs and freedoms of citizens they encouraged to spend there latter years here.
If this means that pedestrianised areas are not equitable then they should not be implemented. Half baked schemes as proposed are neither fair nor workable.
Philip presumably there are no old folk in Chester Worcester and Shrewsbury for an example of towns mainly pedestrianised
The revised actions under the plan are a naked attack on those with disabilities. Fresh from completing years old big pile of rubble on St John’s St and sticking boards up saying “come to Lichfield – so vibrant, so much to see and do, one visit is never enough!” LDC staff are saying: This is only for able bodied people – disabled not welcome unless you come when no one else does on Monday – Wednesday!” Don’t disabled people work in the week too? Do they not have families who might want to take them to town centre on the weekend?
No – clearly they do not feel disabled people are welcome in Lichfield at all!