Loss of tokens will hit disabled (From Gazette & Herald)

Loss of tokens will hit disabled

ELDERLY people who have trouble getting about could be stuck at home when a new travel scheme comes in next April.

After March 31, Ryedale pensioners will no longer be able to claim concessionary tokens towards taxis, parking charges, buses and trains.

Instead, there will be half-price bus passes available for weekend and off-peak travel on the buses.

Disabled pensioner Maud Walker used to rely on her tokens for a bit of independence. She is angry to lose her tokens. Mrs Walker, who lives at The Hawthorns, Norton, uses a walking frame and cannot get onto buses.

She said: "I feel so strongly about this. I have no family of my own and have to rely on friends.

"Please let's have equal rights for disabled people. This is discrimination." She added: "I wish more people would make a fuss and then we could get something done."

Mrs Walker believed that Harrogate and York were keeping their tokens. "Why can't we have that choice," she demanded. "A lot of people are grumbling, so it's time that someone stood up and said something. I was born and bred in Norton. I've lived here all my life. I've always paid my rates."

Norton Mayor Coun Margaret Taylor, who herself uses a stick when walking, said the change of system was very short-sighted. "This does discriminate against the old and infirm," she said. There were also residential homes which relied on residents' tokens to provide outings for people who would otherwise be stuck in the homes.

Coun Brian Cottam (Con, Birdsall) explained that new Government regulations meant every local authority had to have a half-price bus pass scheme.

There was the option to continue with the tokens too, but that would be expensive as the council expected a bus pass scheme to cost as much as a token scheme.

He said: "I feel very, very sorry for this lady. This is something I've talked about for ages and I think it is iniquitous we have been forced into this system."

Coun Keith Orrell, who has also voiced his views at council on the subject of travel tokens, said bus pass schemes were inappropriate for people in rural areas.

"In the very rural parts of Ryedale, where bus deregulation has decimated bus services, half price fares are of very little use. There should be more flexibility in the system to allow use of different forms of transport and different schemes where they are more appropriate."

Shirley Dean of Ryedale Taxis, based at Malton Station, said: "It's nowt to do with us in a way, but in some ways it will hit us. There are those people who can get to the bottom of the garden to get to a taxi, but they can't get down the road to a bus and sometimes there isn't even a bus in the rural areas."

John Hinderwell, who is co-ordinator for Ryedale Access, supported Mrs Walker's view.

People with disabilities cannot get on and off buses unless the buses are specially adapted, he says. "I've never managed to use a bus in Ryedale. Disabled people will be worse off."

Mr Hinderwell, of Norton, who is wheelchair-bound, described the switch from tokens to bus pass as a gimmick: "It hasn't been carefully worked out. It's going to be an absolute dead loss. I can't think a lot of people are going to benefit, especially in the rural areas."

Head of revenue services at Ryedale District Council said the current red tokens would not be issued after March 31. People could use them until the end of May then they would cease to be valid.

Disabled people who were registered as permanently physically or mentally disabled, blind or partially sighted may qualify for the half-price bus pass too. When applying, people would need a copy of their disability living allowance letter. Letters would be going out next week to everyone who used to receive tokens telling them where and when they could collect their new bus passes. These would be available between March 19 and March 30.

Updated: 16:23 Friday, February 23, 2001