A DECISION to remove disabled parking bays in Worcester city centre and replace them with a taxi rank has been defended by the councillor who oversaw the scheme.

More could have been done to inform blue badge holders of the changes to bays in St Swithin’s Street and where else they can park in the city, admitted Councillor Simon Geraghty.

He said the reason that Worcestershire County Council, in its capacity as the highways authority, did not consult disabled groups about the proposal was because officers were not aware there were any.

The Worcester News has previously reported that 11 disabled bays in St Swithin’s Street have been replaced with an eight-bay taxi rank to try to stop queues of taxis clogging up city centre streets.

In return, 11 new blue badge spaces have been created at the Cornmarket, the Trinity and the Cross, but campaigners are not happy and a protest brought the city centre to a standstill last Tuesday.

Coun Geraghty, who is deputy leader of Worcestershire County Council and represents Worcester’s Riverside ward, which takes in the St Swithin’s Street area, said he “thought very carefully” about the move, but believed it was the right one to take when balancing the needs of businesses, taxis and disabled drivers.

“It’s a three-way triangle in a really congested part of the city centre,” said Coun Geraghty, who is also the leader of Worcester City Council.

“There was always going to be a solution that was never going to make everybody happy.”

Coun Geraghty said the proposals were first tabled in 2008 following the formation of the City Centre Congestion Group.

Blue badge holders are angry because they say they have always been able to park on the previously existing double yellow lines outside Lloyds bank in the Cross and, therefore, getting rid of bays in St Swithin’s Street means an overall loss of space.

Coun Geraghty said the two options are different as drivers only get a three-hour window when parking on double yellow lines while it is unlimited when in a designated bay.

Coun Geraghty dismissed claims that the number of taxis in Worcester city centre outweighs demand.

He said the city council, which was responsible for licensing, had investigated limiting taxi numbers but after looking at the results of a survey funded by taxi drivers a decision was taken not to impose a ceiling.

Coun Geraghty conceded that both councils had learned some valuable lessons on how to approach similar projects in the future, including more input from disabled drivers and other people affected by such changes.

He said he wants more information to be made available online showing where alternative disabled parking can be found and why certain decisions have been made.

City's disabled parking spaces

In Car parks
• Copenhagen Street: 3
• Cattle Market: 12
• King Street: 3
• Newport Street: 3
• St Martin’s Gate: 16
• Clare Street: 3
• Commandery Road: 3
• Provident Street: 3

On the street
• Charles Street: 7
• Deansway: 8
• Farrier Street: 2
• Infirmary Walk: 3
• Sansome Walk: 3
• St Mary’s Street: 2
• The Trinity: 4
• Trinity Street: 9
• Cornmarket: 4
• The Cross: 6