A disabled activist says Cardiff Council are letting down blue badge users as part of a huge new development to transform part of the city. Holly Greader says the council are '"ignoring concerns" by removing 11 disabled parking spaces for the Churchill Way Canal Quarter development.
The 24-year-old from Splott says the 37 blue badge spaces on the city centre street were in constant use and the removal of them will severely impact the accessibility of the city. She said: “The removal of these spaces show that Cardiff Council do not care about the disabled community.”
Churchill way is being developed to reopen a dock feeder canal that runs through the centre of Cardiff. Work on the project, which began in early February, has seen the removal of the central reservation on Churchill Way and the tarmac dug up, with the service and utilities that were underneath the road now diverted. Site hoardings are now in place so work can begin to bring back the dock feeder canal, funded by Cardiff Council. You can keep up to date with more Cardiff stories by subscribing to our daily newsletter here.
The plan, approved by Cardiff Council's cabinet in May 2021, is set to see the opening up of the canal, a new green public space with rain gardens in place to manage surface water drainage, outdoor seating and an amphitheatre-style outdoor performance area. It's also set to create a new district in the east of the city interlinking Bridge Street, David Street, Charles Street, Tredegar Street, Guildford Crescent and Barrack Lane to develop a "high-density, mixed-use development, attracting homes, hotels, hospitality, high-quality offices, leisure and retail units," according to Cardiff Council.
However, Ms Greader says the plans will have a huge impact on disabled people in Cardiff who park in the city centre. As part of the work, the Council have removed 11 disabled bays on Churchill Way to make room for their development. There are still 26 spaces between the canal and Motorpoint arena.
Ms Greader said: “Churchill Way was the most accessible blue badge parking I have ever seen; the surface was so flat and smooth. Even with the 30+ spaces it was sometimes full, on days like that I have driven around for an hour trying to find a space. Then I have had to go home, I didn’t have the energy to make an alternative plan,” she added.
The activist explained that if these spaces are not replaced in an accessible way, she would cease to use the city as much as she currently does.
“It would instil a kind of dreaded fear for me. I have to deal with all of this just to go out,” she said. “I can’t do the things that everyone else does without thinking, we can’t just pop into a city to do some shopping, we can’t just pick something up.”
Ms Greader said that the Council made it difficult to find out the information about the removal of these spaces and if they would be replaced. “They told me that these spaces would be dotted all over the city in Autumn, but that will be far too late.”
The only other road that would be suitable for these spaces, Ms Greader explained, would be Windsor place. The camber of this road would mean that it would have to be flattened to make it accessible. She added that the trees may have to be removed as their roots would disrupt the surface.
“It just feels like the Council have consulted a few disabled people to tick a box, then they have ignored the needs of the community.” We have never had the same rights as non-disabled people, we are often considered second-class citizens. We are ignored or not seen as important enough.
She said that despite the disabled community being a large minority who have been very vocal about these issues, there are people who choose to be ignorant of these issues. “Clearly the Council don’t feel the need to listen to the voices of the disabled community,” Ms Greader said.
“Disabled people face an extra cost of £583, sometimes more, a month. My wheelchair costs around £7,000, that doesn’t include my mobility scooter. These things don’t all allow the same function, so you have to have different mobility aides for different activities.” The disabled advocate has made others in the community aware, and she said that the overwhelming response was shock.
A Cardiff Council spokesperson said: “Work is underway to deliver the new Canal Quarter in the city centre and this means that parking arrangements on Churchill Way have changed to enable construction to begin. Disabled parking is still available on Churchill Way.”
They said that they have monitored the disabled bays since the summer when 11 bays were closed on Churchill Way to facilitate the Summer of Smiles festival.
The spokesperson said that after regular surveys, they concluded that there are often free spaces.
To mitigate the impact of these bay removals, the spokesperson said that they will be opening 11 disabled bays on Windsor Place, next to the pedestrianised area of Queen Street. This is going through the required Traffic Regulation Order process.
The spokesperson said that Windsor Place has 14 full-time disabled bays, and four part time disabled bays. There are also pay and display parking spaces which are free to blue badge holders.
They added that: “The council’s parking app shows people which parking spaces are available in the city centre enabling them to select a space closest to where they want to be.
“We understand that people might feel inconvenienced by the works, but we hope the measures being put in place will enable people to find places to park in the city centre.”
