Disabled campaigner Sandy Taylor has accused East Dunbartonshire Council of hypocrisy for saying they support equality while “discriminating against disabled people”.
The campaigner is leading a protest against a controversial £3.1million shared space project in the town centre of Kirkintilloch.
Safety First
The concern that Mr Taylor has, alongside thousands of local people is for the safety of pedestrians, especially those that are disabled or elderly. This is due to a busy junction at Catherine Street in the town having it’s controlled crossing removed. Instead these have been replaced by ‘courtesy crossings’ where neither the pedestrians nor the motorists have the right of way.
Hypocritical
Mr Taylor’s claims of hypocrisy are based on the East Dunbartonshire council’s decision to fly the rainbow flag from their headquarters in support of diversity and equality. In addition, they continue to reinforce their commitment to eliminating prejudice and discrimination.
Mr Taylor said: “This can only be described as the biggest institutionalised discrimination against blind and disabled people ever seen in Scotland.”
As chairman of East Dumbartonshire Visually Impaired People’s Forum, he claims that he has been telling Councillor Geekie for over 2 and a half years that the ‘courtesy crossings’ were simply unusable.
He added: “She and her administration have refused to listen and we are therefore effectively excluded from our own town centre.”
No Plans for U-Turn
Despite Councillor Geekie admitting on BBC Radio Scotland that the shared space project had not worked and could be reversed, Thomas Glen, council depute chief executive said just weeks later that work would continue and there were no plans to reinstate the controlled crossings.
Local MSP Rona Mackay has accused Councillor Geekie of doing a “U-turn on a U-turn”, a claim that she denies.
She said: “As I said in the interview, I don’t have the power to overturn a council decision nor does the administration have a majority. I have done no U-turn and as I said, let the council decide”.
