York: Delay to plans for EV charging bays in city centre car park

Plans to build electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in a York car park have been delayed due to concerns over the impact on disabled drivers.

Under city council plans, existing blue badge spaces would move further from the Union Terrace car park exit so four EV charging stations could be built.

That would mean disabled drivers having to walk about 164ft (50m) further, if heading south towards Gillygate.

The council's planning committee voted to defer the application on Monday.

Councillor Pete Kilbane argued that anyone unable to walk further than 164ft and who was in receipt of a personal independence payment was automatically eligible for a blue badge, so approving the request would be "quite perverse".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Councillor Rachel Melly added: "It seems to be a reduction in pedestrian safety and a reduction in accessibility."

However, Stuart Andrews, the council's smart transport project manager, said an alternative design for the EV "hyperhub" could see up to 30 spaces lost elsewhere in the car park.

He added: "We're keeping the same number of spaces but we're now adding the provision of disabled access EV charging which is not available and is in a shocking state commercially across York and the country - and the hyperhub itself has been designed to be disabled accessible."

Mr Andrews concluded his proposal by saying: "If you take the project as a whole, there's a net positive impact for disabled drivers, particularly in seven to eight years when all Motability cars will be EV."

However, a vote to defer the application was won after being proposed by planning committee chair Councillor Andrew Hollyer.

The council's hyperhubs at park and ride schemes at Poppleton Bar and Monks Cross in York opened earlier this year.

Disability rights campaigners in York have previously protested after a city centre blue badge parking ban was made permanent.

People affected by the ban said they had been made to feel like "second-class citizens".

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