Taxi Driver Online

I suppose it works both ways...I blame Josef and Mr XH588

But, of course, certainly not good for the mother and her child, and apart from the likes of Josef and Mr XH588, the rest of us not really qualified to comment.

But the council's statement towards the end changes the things a tad, at least from my perspective. And kind of echoes what I said in the other thread about lockdown etc. But this looks like an example of where lockdown-induced traffic management measures have actually been reversed

And if the council's take is realistic, then perhaps the mother is overdoing things a tad


'Infuriated' Glasgow mum slams council after city centre disabled parking turned into taxi rank

https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glas ... l-29096713

The mum of a disabled child has slammed Glasgow City Council after disabled parking on Ingram Street was turned into a taxi rank, leaving her "reluctant" to travel into the city centre with her family.

A frustrated Glasgow mum has slammed the council after disabled parking bays in the city centre were turned into a taxi rank.

Lisa from the east end of Glasgow is now "reluctant" to travel to the city centre with her family due to disabled parking availability. The frustrated mum stressed that life is "difficult enough" for the disabled and claims the council are "picking on the most vulnerable".

Lisa has a severely disabled four-year-old daughter who has a rare chromosome disorder, meaning she is wheelchair bound as she has no muscle tone. She is also epileptic and fed through a tube.

The youngster also has a specialist pram which Lisa says is "extremely heavy and large in size", with a normal parking space not being big enough to move her daughter in and out of the car - meaning the family rely on disabled bays.

Lisa, along with her partner and children, travelled into the city centre on April 29 for a family day out, however, they were left feeling afraid to return due to the lack of disabled parking.

Speaking to Glasgow Live she said: "We went into the city centre to find the council has taken away at least six disabled parking bays on Ingram street to make it into a taxi rank.

"They also got rid of three disabled bays around the corner at Hanover Street in the latter part of last year. It’s hard enough trying to find a space to park without them taking away important bays that were regularly used.

"My four-year-old daughter has a rare chromosome problem, she’s severely disabled with no muscle tone at all, epileptic and tube fed. She has a specialist pram that’s extremely heavy and large in size and a normal sized parking space isn’t big enough to get the pram out the car without potentially causing damage to another car."

Lisa is currently hoping for a wheelchair accessible vehicle - she added: "I'm awaiting a wheelchair access car with a ramp at the back which requires a 3 metre distance which isn’t possible with a normal sized bay.

"Due to my daughter's medical conditions I need to be within distance to my car which now isn’t possible as I need to park so far away to do everyday things that most people take for granted.

"The council taking away these important spaces has essentially cut us off of going into the city centre now."

Glasgow's 'Blue Badge Scheme' is for people with severe mobility problems which makes them unable or virtually unable to walk or those who are registered blind. It allows Blue Badge holders to park in restricted areas for any length of time and for free, even on on-street pay and display areas.

However, Lisa's frustration comes after the council removed essential disabled parking in replacement of a taxi rank.

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “We are sorry to learn of the difficulties experienced by this family.

“We prioritise disabled parking where ever possible to help keep the city centre accessible for those who require support.

“Blue badge holders can park for free in almost 3000 on-street parking bays in the city centre area, where there are also 116 dedicated, on-street disabled bays.

“The three disabled bays on Hanover St were in place on a temporary basis as part of the Spaces for People programme that emerged during the covid pandemic."

They continued: “Close to Hanover Street and Ingram Street, where the family has parked previously, there are dedicated disabled parking bays on South Frederick Street, Cochrane Street and George Street, between George Square and Montrose Street.”

More on disabled parking in Glasgow can be found here.


Before and after photo...

https://i2-prod.glasgowlive.co.uk/incom ... -after.jpg

So it was a temporary disabled space put in during the covid pandemic which just happened to be handy for 1 mum and child being replaced with taxi rank spaces which will be handy for dozens of other travellers.

to qoute Mr Spock " the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one"

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What did the mum do when she went to that place and all the disabled places were taken?

I suspect she went and found another one nearby.

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IDFIMH

'Nearby' pretty much covers it - South Frederick St is the next street and (I'd say) more useful for to/from the east end anyway. But why let the facts get in the way of a good story...

While I'm pleasantly surprised to see a new rank on Ingram St, the reality is that many city ranks are unuseable because of unauthorised parking (including PHCs). Glasgow council parking wardens don't generally work after 10pm and the police have other fish to fry.

But I'm probably to blame for all of this and a few other things besides