Cross-party City Council group wants to ‘bin the barriers’ in Salisbury
The group aims to improve access for disabled people across the city
Last updated 16th May 2023
A group of Salisbury City Councillors wants to remove the barriers that obstruct paths and pavements in the City.
The Accessibility & Inclusion Task Group (AITG) was formed recently to tackle the issue of accessibility for people in wheelchairs, who use other disability equipment and parents with buggies.
Cllr Lynne Blackwood chairs the group and says the barriers are out of date in their current position.
She said: “Most of them were put in say, 20 years ago. And the problem with them is, at the time they were put in, there weren’t a lot of people who used mobility scooters or used electric wheelchairs, and there weren’t a lot of double buggies.”
An engineer has been consulted on how to best remedy the problem, with the barriers being moved further apart to create a bigger space the most cost-effective solution.
However, this will come at a cost. And while most of the funding is hoped to come from the council, fundraising might be required.
Cllr Blackwood has already had some ideas on what the AITG could do: “I was thinking the other day, maybe I'll do a parachute jump! But I don't think it'd do me any good!
“Why don't we do a wheelchair race, you know, around the square. I mean, yeah, let's see what we can do. This is our next conversation. We need to raise money for certain things.”