North Wales MS urges action to make town centres accessible for all

A North Wales Member of the Senedd has called on the Welsh Government to take action to ensure that town centres are accessible for all.

Welsh Conservative MS Mark Isherwood, who also Chairs the Senedd Cross Party Group on Disability, said that many outdoor spaces are “no-go zones” for blind and partially sighted people.

Questioning First Minister Eluned Morgan on the matter in the Senedd on Tuesday, Mr Isherwood, who has been calling for improvements for years, highlighted the barriers which still exist for blind and partially sighted people.

He went onto urge the Welsh Government to put words into real action.

Mr Isherwood said: “It’s almost 22 years since I first attended a Guide Dogs Cymru event here, highlighting the need to stop turning Shared Streets and outdoor public places into no-go zones for blind and partially sighted people by involving them at the design stage.

“However, the problem persisted. Early in the pandemic, concern had to be raised by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) Cymru and Guide Dogs Cymru about the issue of ‘Shared Space’ and the implications for blind and partially sighted people of the Welsh Government’s temporary transport measures.

“RNIB Cymru is continuing to call on the Welsh Government to prioritise the safety of disabled people by incorporating their ‘Key Principles of Inclusive Street Design’ into the Welsh Government’s Active Travel guidance.

“And Guide Dogs Cymru are calling on the Welsh Government to act on the findings of their ‘Designing for Inclusion’ research, and ‘to revise the Active Travel Guidance, Technical Advice Note 18 and other relevant guidance with the involvement of disabled people and other infrastructure users’.

“How will you ensure that warm Welsh Government words are finally turned into real action on the ground accordingly?”

Eluned Morgan MS offered assurances that the Cabinet Secretary for Transport is “already working on this issue.”

The First Minister said: “I do think it’s important that everybody feels they can be a part of our community.

“And, to ensure that, we need to make sure that people with disabilities don’t feel locked out; they need to be a part of the process of the development of policies.

“So, we’ve asked the local authorities to ensure that, when they’re working out how to develop their town centres, they take that into account, including people who are blind.”

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Isherwood said: “The Welsh Government action she detailed remains meaningless without monitoring and evaluation of outcomes, followed by intervention when failures to deliver are exposed.”