Work is taking place to ensure long term changes to disabled parking provision in the city centre strikes the right balance, the leader of Lichfield District Council has said.
Controversy has surrounded a decision to relocate on street blue badge spaces to nearby car parks during the coronavirus pandemic.
Cllr Doug Pullen has previously spoken of a desire to see cars “pushed away” from the city centre – and the Conservative leader has now said he wants to space freed up for cyclists and pedestrians as part of long term plans to revamp the city centre.
But he insisted work was taking place to ensure disabled drivers could still be catered for.
“We are committed to keeping the same number of disabled bays but they may need to be relocated to other locations.
“We are bringing in AccessAble to make sure we’ve got the balance right – and we will be consulting fully with those impacted.
“Lichfield must be a welcoming city, but there will always be competing needs and demands.
“But we want to ensure we have as much evidence as possible to make the right decisions.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
Cllr Pullen said he hoped by improving walking and cycling provision across the city centre it would cut the number of vehicles needing to seek out paring spaces.
“I want to free up space in the city for cyclists and pedestrians in order to make it attractive for those who live nearby to walk or cycle in.
“If you do have a car and have to drive in then it should be a safe, pleasant walk to access the areas you need to.
“If it isn’t suitable for you to walk then accessing blue badge spaces or parking spaces in general should be as easy as possible.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
The installation of variable messaging displays demonstrating where car parking spaces are available around Lichfield are expected to be one of the first elements of the council’s city centre masterplan to come to fruition.
But after proposals for digital displays within the bus station were rejected due to concerns over them being sited in the conservation area, Cllr Pullen has said he will push for change.
“We want to make it as easy as possible for people to find spaces – if we need t fix policies internally to make this happen then we will do that.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
