Criticism over plans to improve Bristol for disabled people (2025)

Bristol city councillors unanimously backed a motion last year

Plans to make Bristol better for disabled people have been criticised for failing to consider those who have no choice but to use the car.

Councillors voted unanimously by 57-0 last October for a motion to improve how accessible the city is.

A meeting of full council was told disabled people faced barriers getting around.

Many of the suggestions focused on transport, such as exploring whether to extend the Diamond bus pass, valid only from 9am, to 24 hours and investigating whether to allow disabled drivers through bus gates.

Bristol City Council’s transport and connectivity committee is doing this work, but an update on the broader policies, including giving people with disabilities more of a say in the authority’s decisions, was given to the strategy and resources committee on Monday, April 14.

The progress so far was criticised by Cllr John Goulandris (Conservative, Stoke Bishop) for excluding the needs of disabled motorists.

He told the meeting: “It was a great motion and if we could achieve it, we would all be very happy.

“But unfortunately there are lots of complications, partly funding, partly also that trying to achieve full access to some groups will actually clank against some policies we have because the harsh reality is that a large number of disabled and very elderly people rely on one mode of transport that is not very popular at the moment and that’s the motor car.

“I see very little provision for disabled and elderly people using their motor cars with blue badges.”

Cllr Goulandris said plans announced by the Green-led council in January to close Park Street to through-traffic and install a bus gate at the top and a bus lane at the bottom should be reconsidered.

He said: “If we were truly keen to make Bristol an accessible city, we would have to make an exception for the seriously disabled.

“We’re almost trying to forget that while some disabled and elderly people will be able to use public transport, and we do need to make public transport accessible, there will always be those that unfortunately need their car.

“When we’re looking at restricting car use we have to differentiate between the commuter, the motorist and those who are disabled whose only mode of transport is the car.”

Cllr Ani Stafford-Townsend (Green, Central) said people with physical disabilities were currently at risk from air pollution, so the proposed Park Street changes were welcome, and that it would be easier for those who did need to drive to get around because there would be fewer motorists.

Bristol Disability Equality Commission chair Alun Davies said in a statement to the committee that he warmly welcomed both the motion being passed unanimously in October and the update report on implementing it.

He said: “Whilst we recognise there are still significant challenges in embedding disability equality across the council, we feel the options in the report are a positive step forward.

“We welcome the opportunity to work with policy committee chairs to take the agenda forward.

“The proof will of course be in seeing tangible improvements.

“We believe this report and the motion give us a good starting point.

“We especially welcome the commitment of the leader to meet with disabled people’s organisations on a regular basis.”

Council leader and committee chair Cllr Tony Dyer (Green, Southville) said he was meeting not only with the commission but other disability groups on how to improve accessibility.

He said: “We need to recognise that the disabled community in Bristol is not one community, so we need to look at different organisations that represent different parts of those communities and also recognise the fact they will be in conflict with each other.

“We need to see tangible improvements because for a long time we’ve had a lot of talk about this and we haven’t necessarily seen the improvements in action.

“If I look at, for example, the railway stations in South Bristol, such as Bedminster and Parson Street, if you’re in a wheelchair, you can’t use those stations, and if we want to be an inclusive city then we need to ensure that all our railway stations and buses are accessible.”

City council director of policy, strategy and digital Tim Borrett said: “In considering how we apply this motion across all policy committees, we do need to be mindful in ensuring there is the right level of investment in time, money and resource in undertaking the activity that’s required.

“There has been no specific budget set aside for the motion, so this is something that we do really need to see as part of our business as usual and embedding in our working practices across the council.”

Opponents of the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood criticised the report at the meeting, saying their area was now less accessible than before.