'Stick to promise on reversing blue badge ban' council chiefs urged

That’s the message to council chiefs ahead of a crunch meeting on Thursday.

Members of City of York Council’s ruling Executive have been presented with three options in a report by the authority’s director of environment, transport and planning, James Gilchrist.

These are: 

• Option 1: Create two levels of anti-terror security in the city centre, with the ‘highest risk’ area around Parliament Street accessible to emergency vehicles only, but blue badge access permitted to the same outer areas of the city centre as before the Covid pandemic 
• Option 2: Do nothing and maintain the existing blue badge ban 
• Option 3: Keep all the counter-terror measures which have been installed in place – and allow blue-badge holders access anyway to the whole city centre. Access for blue badge holders under this option could be facilitated by a ‘staffed presence at the two entry points’, probably at Blake Street and Goodramgate: a solution similar to that used in Chester.

The authority’ s previous Lib Dem/ Green coalition decided in November 2021 to remove the exemption which allowed Blue Badge holders access by car to Blake Street, Lendal, St. Helen’s Square, Goodramgate, Church Street, King's Square and Colliergate.

The decision was made to allow anti-terror bollards to be installed in a ring around the city centre.

But disabled rights campaigners argued the ban effectively left many people barred from their own city.

Disability campaigners with a 'closed to us' banner (Image: Newsquest)

Reversing the ban was a key Labour pledge during the election – and Labour council bosses have repeatedly emphasised their determination to do just that.

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s meeting Flick Williams, a visually-impaired wheelchair user and retired access consultant who is a part of the 'Reverse the Ban' movement, urged senior Labour councillors to stick to their election pledge.

“Please keep your promise to the electorate and don’t delay in reversing the blue badge ban,” she said.

Flick Williams of Reverse the Ban (Image: Supplied)

All of the options being presented to Executive members tomorrow have their drawbacks.

In his report, Mr Gilchrist warns that Option 1 would be expensive, requiring a capital expenditure of about £2million. “Option 1 therefore is NOT recommended,” his report says.

Option 2 would enable maximum anti-terror protection. “However, it continues to disadvantage many disabled people,” Mr Gilchrist says in his report.

Option 3, meanwhile, would conflict with the advice of counter terrorism police. “The risk is that vehicles within the secure zone can be commandeered and used as a weapon … by those determined to do so,” Mr Gilchrist says in his report.

This risk could be reduced, however, by introducing an Anti Terrorism Traffic Regulation Order (ATTRO) giving police powers to remove blue badge access for events or specific risks.

Option 3 would involve bollards being moved aside to allow entrance to cars carrying passengers with blue badges.

New anti-terror bollards in Lendal and High Petergate (Image: Newsquest)

Mr Gilchrist’s report rejects ANPR technology as impractical, and instead says the most practical solution would be to have security guards at two entrances to the city centre – most likely Blake Street and Goodramgate.

The guards could ‘liaise with the control room to open the bollards once the Blue Badge has been verified’, Mr Gilchrist says in his report. “However, this is likely to come with some significant revenue costs detailed in the finance section,” his report adds.

- READ MORE: 'How would you protect York against terrorists?' Labour bosses asked

Council bosses were reluctant to reveal before Thursday's meeting which, if any, of the three options they were likely to go for. But speaking to the Press last month, Labour deputy leader and transport boss Cllr Pete Kilbane said: “We are committed to reversing the blue badge ban.”

There is clear public support for such a move, according to a survey summarised in Mr Gilchrist’s report.

More than 2,800 people responded to an ‘initial consultation’ on the principle of reversing the ban, the report says.

Of those, 83 per cent were in favour of restoring blue badge access to the city centre, with just 12 per cent against.