REGARDING the article on page 10 in Monday’s edition, while I thoroughly applaud the proposal to effectively give pedestrians a 100 per cent traffic-free shopping walkway from Horseshoe Common to the top of Commercial Road, which is all undoubtedly better for the customers and the town centre’s economy in the future, it’s not without concern.
As a mainly wheelchair-reliant disabled driver, I rarely come into the town centre because I already have to park as far away as Bourne Avenue in order to get to a regular appointment right by Beale Place.
And unless my husband is pushing me, it’s impossible as I cannot effectively self-propel that distance and I am confident, neither can many other mobility-restricted people who will have similar difficulties after Mr Pearson suggests, at the end of your article, that provision of disabled access spaces will be further from the town centre.
Could I offer a potential solution that would accommodate us disabled drivers and the new design?
Would it not be a relatively simple job to mimic the ‘shared space’ area by McDonalds and the Tardis in Boscombe by positioning a few spaces just inside the edge of the new area, perhaps opposite Beales’ entrances in Hinton Road?
This to me would cause minimal distress to pedestrians as there, presumably, would be less foot traffic in that road than actually on the Old Christchurch/Hinton/Yelverton Road and Gervis Place areas?
Perhaps Cllr Chapman or Mr Pearson could offer an opinion by replying?
REV DR BARRY
HARDING-RATHBONE Antiques Retro and Collectibles, Bournemouth
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