From Suzi Q
Saturday, 11 August 2007

Yes we need to take Frances Minto's point very seriously (see Eyesore thread). She says that placing cafe chairs over all the flat surface is actually disrupting wheelchair access, rather than making our town fully accessible. And remember the guy who runs the laundrette not being allowed to park close enough to his business to be able to walk there.

Frances now goes to Todmorden and Mytholmroyd because Hebden is losing on access. I have to agree when she wonders if the pedestraisation of central Hebden was "designed to provide disabled access or if the council is making some nice extra rent off the cafes."

Please Hebdenroyd Town Council get your priorites sorted. Don't turn Hebden into a chic cafe culture, remember that we were nominated one of the most interesting towns in the world; let's make us one of the most accessible towns too.

Posted by Anthony Rae
Saturday, 11 August 2007

People are perfectly right to complain on this point. One of the whole purposes of the traffic review was to make the town more accessible.

At the last two meetings of the Steering Group we have been pressing Calderdale Council to act on the problem of the cafe tables and chairs impeding accessibility along the smooth pavements. When we agreed to encourage the provision of pavement cafes, it was on the basis that their use of public space would be managed by effective licensing. The new Calderdale-wide licencing approach has been in place now for some months, with Hebden Bridge cafes able to apply for a licence which will set out where they can and cannot place their furniture.

The cafes have had long enough to get their licences; at our last meeting we encouraged the Council to start to consider enforcement action against premises that block the pavement; I think the same thing should apply to A boards that do the same.

See HebWeb News