Disability groups aren’t being listened to by the council when it comes to street design, a Labour councillor has claimed.
Cllr Robert Mooney said meetings of an accessible design forum — set up to get feedback on active travel plans, such as cycle paths — have been “very heated”.
He asked Cllr Ruairi Kelly, the council’s convener for neighbourhood services and assets, whether he believed “the concerns of those with visual impairments and other disabilities are being adequately reflected”.
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Cllr Kelly, SNP, said the design of “any major travel infrastructure and public realm project” will seek to include “stakeholders including groups representing people with disabilities and visual impairments to navigate different needs of road users”.
He added the accessible design forum, intended to “address the challenges of active travel design, is at “an early stage” and is the “most appropriate platform to take this structure forward”.
But Cllr Mooney, who is visually impaired, said: “I’ve spoken to some of the disability groups that have attended that design forum, there have been two meetings.
“The disability groups have told me that the meetings are very heated and that officers aren’t listening to them.
“I’ve asked if I could attend that forum and officers have told me ‘no’. I asked if we could have cross-party politicians sitting on that forum, the officers have told me ‘no’.
“What are the officers frightened of? What don’t they want elected members to hear? Who is running this council? Is it the officers or is it the elected members?”
The Labour councillor has previously raised concerns about a cycle lane on Sauchiehall Street, which he believes is dangerous for people with sight issues.
Cllr Kelly said the “people that Glasgow citizens elected to run this council are running this council”.
“The accessible design forum is not a political group,” he added. “It is a group that is there to take on board and account for the views of different groups who are represented.
“If Cllr Mooney wishes to represent one of those groups, speak to one of those groups.”
He added: “It is not a group for political footballs to be bandied around, and it’s not a group for politicians to determine the outcome of designs that need to be specified by qualified engineers.
“It’s not a closed shop, it’s not a finished product, we will continue to take learnings from each of the new meetings and review projects that go ahead.”
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