In this blog post, we share a letter from the Edinburgh Access Panel that stresses a number of ongoing projects for improving lives of disabled people within the city.
As a part of our Engagement Plan, Disability Equality Scotland is reaching out to all the Access Panels across Scotland to seek for lived experiences and ideas on how to improve lives of disabled people.
Last summer, we have asked the Access Panels to share their stories. Since then, we have received a great amount of feedback and want to thank everyone for getting back to us.
We don’t stop where we are now, which is just the beginning of a large-scale project that aims to bring disabled people and the Scottish Government closer in quest for promoting and practicing accessibility.
While we keep collecting more insights from the Access Panels, we are always on the line to hear from our members and volunteers.
For this week’s blog post, we included the latest highlight from our ongoing correspondence with the Access Panels. This letter arrived to us from the bustling capital of Scotland, Edinburgh. We are infinitely grateful to Robin Wickes, the Chairman, for showcasing the many facets of the progress in improving accessibility in the city.
“Edinburgh Access Panel has been kept very busy by Edinburgh Council’s development of their City Mobility Plan. The plan aims to reduce pollution and traffic congestion to help Edinburgh achieve its Net Zero targets. Elements of the plan include low traffic neighbourhoods, 20-minute neighbourhoods and a low emission zone, with the objective of persuading as many people as possible to make the switch from driving cars to either active travel or public transport.
“Our panel is having frequent meetings and site-visits with the various project teams at which we highlight access issues that are likely to be caused by the proposed measures. In particular we are concerned about the impact on Edinburgh’s many thousands of Blue Badge holders as parking opportunities are eroded by new cycle lanes and as reaching your destination becomes more challenging because of bus-gates and road closures.
“While this major project rumbles on in the background, new challenges are cropping up all the time. For example we have a seat on the Edinburgh Airport Consultative Committee and are excited about being invited to take part in a new project which will review and improve accessibility within the office buildings where the airport staff are based.”
If you have an experience to share or can remember the last time when accessibility in your area could use some improvements, reach out to us via email: access@disabilityequality.scot or by giving us a call: 0141 370 0968 with the extension 320.
