WILTSHIRE Council’s plans to create a second permanent taxi rank in the town centre have come under fire from disabled car users and local groups, who say the council should focus more on providing more disabled parking spaces in the Market Place.
The proposed new taxi rank will create four new parking spaces for taxis outside Lloyd’s Bank in the High Street – in addition to the five spaces already available in the Market Place.
Currently, the Market Place only offers three disabled parking spaces, which users say are often full, mis-used by other vehicles and are not sufficient for events at the Assembly Hall or nearby.
Local resident, Heather Songhurst said, “There needs to be more disabled parking spaces in the Market Place – when they (Wiltshire Council) changed it, that’s what we thought they were going to do.
“A lot of the time the spaces are full. There are two cafes located nearby and there is no parking! If they do go ahead with the taxi rank outside Lloyd’s, they should turn the old one into disabled parking spaces.”
President of Melksham Seniors Brian Warwick added, “It is completely inadequate to have only three disabled parking spaces in the Market Place. It’s worse in the evening as some of the spaces are taken up by taxis and other road users – so anyone attending events at the Assembly Hall have nowhere to park – they just don’t have the facilities.
“I have asked the community area transport group – a sub group of the Melksham Area Board – to look at the whole situation. Melksham Seniors are pressing for more parking for disabled people in the centre of town, as what we have is insufficient.”
A Wiltshire Council spokesperson said: “The consultation on a permanent taxi rank outside Lloyds Bank in Melksham Market Place has now closed without any objections or comments. We are now progressing the works, with the legal process taking about six weeks before work can start on the ground.
“We are looking at the timing of this work with our contractor as costs can be minimised if it is coordinated with other road marking schemes in the county. We aim to complete the work by mid-November 2018.
“We recognise the need for adequate disabled parking in the Market Place and we worked with Melksham Town Council during the design phase of the new-look Market Place to agree an increase from two bays in the original Market Place, to three in the new layout.
“Once the new taxi rank is complete we plan to review the disabled parking and lorry provision in the Market Place area.”
