A ban on blue badges in York city centre opposed by Dame Judi Dench is discriminatory towards disabled people, according to a new study.
Postgraduate students from York Law School concluded the rights of disabled people were given “insufficient weight’ when the council ruled to prohibit blue badge holders from parking in pedestrianised areas within the city’s central footsteps.
The ban, which was introduced by York City Council in November 2021, was deemed necessary to allow the installation of anti-terror bollards to protect people from attacks.
But the move was met with fierce opposition from residents led by campaign group Reverse the Ban, who called on the council to overturn the restrictions. The group received support from York-born Dame Judi Dench earlier this year.
“As someone living with sight loss, I know only too well how gaining access to places can be exceptionally difficult. York city centre should be fully accessible through these types of schemes,” said Dame Judi.
In a report commissioned last year, law students interviewed disability rights academics, counter-terror specialists and former police chiefs about the policy.
The restrictions have been likened to a “ban” on disabled people accessing the city centre, and the study says the council has failed to “support and enable individuals and communities” in both day-to-day situations and in their decision-making processes.
‘Depicted disabled as a hindrance’
“Overall, the findings suggest that the blue badge ban in York is not proportionate to the threat to life from terrorist activity and that the rights of disabled people were given insufficient weight in the decision-making,” the study claims.
It also said the council’s actions depicted disabled people as a hindrance.
The report concludes: “Although the rights of disabled people and the need for effective counter-terror measures have the potential to be reconciled, this has not been achieved in York amidst a fundamental misunderstanding of discrimination.”
The council rejected the report’s findings. In a statement provided to York Press, a spokesperson said: “There are a notable number of factual inaccuracies and lack of evidence on which broad assumptions and claims have been made.
“Notably, no clear or evidence-based solutions as to different operations of the security barriers have been identified.”
