‘Bin the barriers’, accessibility group urges

The recently formed City Council Accessibility & Inclusion Task Group [AITG], chaired by Cllr Lynne Blackwood, wants to ‘bin the barriers’ that obstruct paths and pavements across the city.

These the groups says, make life difficult for wheelchair users and people who use other disability equipment, as well as parents with buggies.

The aim is to have them either removed altogether, or, if they are deemed necessary for safety reasons, altered so that everyone can get through them while still preventing speeding bikes and skateboards from presenting a danger.

A meeting of the Accessibility and Inclusion Task group on 2 May agreed to ask individual councillors to compile a list of barriers in their wards that cause problems for residents and collate them into one request for action across the city.

The list will be submitted to Wiltshire Council for consideration and prioritisation by the local highway improvement group, with a request for action as and when finances allow.

Barriers in underpasses are outside the scope of this initiative and will be pushed forward by the SCC Underpasses Working Group.