Editor

As some of your readers may know, half of Laura Place and all of King Street from Laura Place to the castle has been allocated as parking for disabled drivers between 11am and 6pm as part of the council’s crazy pedestrianisation plan. On Wednesday, 12 August, at about 2.15pm, I counted the vehicles parked in those streets – 14. Of these, three were vehicles with disabled badges, the rest ordinary cars, some of which had been there for several days, and one since lockdown began. There was room for many cars left empty in a town crying out for parking spaces.

This is just one example of how badly thought out the whole scheme is – who on Earth thought it a good idea to make King Street disabled only? Disabled parking spaces should be near shops, opticians, pharmacists and the like.

It’s obviously a tick box exercise so that whoever’s behind this scheme can pretend there’s adequate provision for the disabled, to make up for all the convenient places ruthlessly taken from them. As for the residents, the council’s view is that “this has a knock-on impact for some residential parking but there is still scope to park in New Street, other nearby streets and along the prom” – but space that appears on these streets is filled within minutes.

It is clear that pedestrianisation in Aberystwyth needs a complete rethink. The present failed scheme should be scrapped immediately, and the views of residents and local businesses should be included in any future plans, with space for the disabled at the forefront, rather than treated as an afterthought.

Rolant J Ellis Maes Laura, Aberystwyth

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