Bolton: Disabled parking bays scheme reaches next stage

As it stands, Bolton is the only part of Greater Manchester that does not yet offer parking bays like these outside where eligible people live.

But that could be set to change after a motion secured by Cllr Debbie Newall last year to change this policy which is now set for its second reading.

Her colleague Cllr Paul Heslop said: “We are in the fortunate position in Bolton that we can go to every other borough and look at their existing schemes and pick out the best bits, whilst rejecting parts that aren't suitable for us, as we are the only borough in the Greater Manchester Authority who does not have disabled parking bays in residential areas.

The scheme was approved at a meeting of Bolton Council next year (Image: Newsquest)

“We will meet again in late summer and discuss next steps.”

Cllr Debbie Newall, of One Kearsley, decided to put the motion to Bolton Council last June after hearing increasing reports of disabled people struggling with car parking outside their homes.

In particular, she was approached by a resident who lives on the main road in Kearsley and struggled to find space to bring his disabled adopted son’s wheelchair in from his car.

Cllr Debbie Newall (Image: One Kearsley)

With many of Bolton’s streets made up of traditional terraced housing, many people across the borough are in a similar position with the space outside their houses the only available parking place.

Under the current policy, the council does not provide bays outside of people’s houses with any bays seen in the town centre or near shops intended for general use and not attached to a single property.

Cllr Newall’s motion to allow people to have their own disabled bays was unanimously approved at a full meeting of the council later that month but Cllr Heslop warned that changes can take some time at the authority.

But now, a policy development group has discussed how the idea will work in practice and reported back just last week.

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Cllr Heslop said: “The will to make this happen is certainly there: there needs to be work done on establishing a criteria for eligibility for a bay and also the costing and funding structure.

“Officers have agreed to work up both these areas and come back with a clear picture of both who can apply, how they can apply and how much the scheme will cost.

“At that point, it will go to executive councillor for consideration, hopefully to be signed off.”

Cllr Heslop hopes to have an update on the scheme later this year.