With Parliament in recess, I’ve been busy out and about across Pendle. During the past week, I’ve taken part in a litter pick with Colne Town Council, attended the Nelson Food Festival launch and the opening of the new Costa Coffee in Nelson.
I’ve also met with the new Local Police Inspector Andy Winter and Lancashire Chief Constable Andy Rhodes to discuss local policing issues. In particular, dangerous driving and fireworks have been high on the list of people’s concerns during my summer advice surgeries.
My most interesting day was Tuesday when I met representatives of the Guide Dogs charity, guide dog owner Stephen and his dog Sam. I was blindfolded and walked around Nelson Town Centre with guide dog Forgan, experiencing first-hand how disorienting it can be to walk without vision in a busy town centre, the issues guide dogs have detecting roads in shared spaces, and heard about the issues caused when people park on kerbs.
Over the past few years I have supported several Guide Dogs campaigns and pushed government to take action to support blind people. In 2016, I co-sponsored the Guide Dogs Disability Equality Training Bill, which aimed to address discrimination by taxi and minicab drivers and would have made it mandatory for all taxi license applicants to receive training on the rights of blind people with guide dogs to access their services.
Another campaign I support is the talking buses campaign. Talking buses provide “next stop” and “final destination” announcements and are essential for people with sight loss to live independently. I am delighted the £4.6 million fleet of 30 new Transdev buses, which came into service last month, are all talking buses. They are a complete replacement for the Mainline fleet which serves Nelson, Colne, Earby, Barnoldswick, Trawden, Laneshaw Bridge and services out to Airedale General Hospital.
My time with Stephen and Sam gave me even more insight to the challenges faced by those living with sight loss. I’ll continue to push for more action to be taken when Parliament returns in September.