Tunbridge Wells Borough Council takes flak on access to cabs for all
Michael Coggles outside Tunbridge Wells train station on the Taxi rank
TUNBRIDGE Wells Borough Council has been slammed by a disability group for "dragging its heels" over making hackney cabs in the town accessible for all.
Michael Coggles, chairman of Tunbridge Wells Area Access Group, said it was "outrageous" only 23 of the 108 fleet could be used by wheelchair users, some disabled people and parents with pushchairs.
He claimed legislation meant all hackney cabs – taxis which can be hired by flagging down in the street – had to be accessible by 2017.
Mr Coggles said he was "irritated beyond measure" because the group began lobbying the council to change its policy on hackney cabs as far back as 1998.
He said: "We are just going round and round in circles. It is virtually impossible to get a taxi in Tunbridge Wells when you want it if you are a disabled person or an elderly person with disabilities. In 2001 we asked for the policy to be changed to one which stated that when a vehicle reached the end of it useful life it was replaced by a vehicle that was accessible to all. We repeated what we had asked for in 1998.
"We don't say they have to have black cabs. We are saying they must be accessible for everybody to use. It is a 'pan-disability' approach. A solution which meets everybody's needs."
Mr Coggles said if the council had introduced the policy when the group asked, it would have given cab drivers many years to change their vehicles over.
But now Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, as the licensing authority, has only two years to comply with the Department for Transport's Ergonomic Design Requirements for Accessible Taxis, he claimed.
Gary Stevenson, head of environment and street scene, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, said: "There is no legislative requirement for any Hackney carriage to be replaced by a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. The council reviewed its accessibility policy for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicles in the borough and has agreed a public consultation on the wheelchair accessibility policy, which will start on April 1 for 12 weeks."
Read more: http://www.courier.co.uk/Council-takes- ... z3VcUMKIhx
