By Jamie Shapiro, Local Democracy Reporter
Councillors have voted to go ahead with an ‘Accessible Southampton’ strategy, which aims to turn Southampton into the easiest city in the UK for disabled people to get around by 2040.
It was originally brought to Southampton City Council’s overview and scrutiny management committee by Cllr Sarah Vaughn, who had led an enquiry, when this met last Thursday (June 9).
In that meeting, Cllr Vaughn said: “A disabled person should be able to go to a friends house and enter through their door. We as a city should make this a standard.”
The plan contains 24 recommendations, including getting all taxis to be wheelchair friendly, renovating public buildings to ensure disabled access, and employing an ‘access officer’ to lead the changes.
The Accessible Southampton plan was voted in by cabinet, which means in the coming months the council will officially begin the strategy as a ‘forward plan’ and it can begin to make a difference in the city.
Leader of the council, Cllr Satvir Kaur, who chaired the cabinet meeting said: “As a new Labour administration, we are very keen that we have an inclusive city but we know in order to be truly inclusive we need to be truly accessible.
“We are very keen to go through these recommendations and see what we can do as a cabinet. I look forward to working with them through all 24 recommendations.”
Photo by Yomex Owo on Unsplash
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