Armidale Dumaresq’s traffic committee recommended a no-parking bay be installed on Dangar Street, similar to the one on Faulkner Street, to help people with disabilities access the Mall.

Cr Herman Beyersdorf said it was all but certain Council would approve the installation when it meets on Monday.

Carer Christine Lawrie has been pushing for the no-parking bay on Dangar Street for a year, after her successful campaign to install the bay in Faulkner Street.

“When my husband [Paul Fidlon] became disabled, I found there was nowhere I could let him off near the Mall so he could socialise, which is of course a very important part of life, especially for the disabled,” she said.

This led to the no-parking zone on Faulkner Street being established.

But Dr Lawrie said even with that point people such as her husband still did not have access to the other side of the Mall near Dangar Street which has Telstra, Optus and several banks. 

Meanwhile retirees from the University of the Third Age now have a safer walk to class after disabled parking spaces were installed outside their building.

Council installed the two disabled parking spaces last week following lobbying from U3A. 

The spaces can be used as parking or drop-off points for older members to save them having to walk across busy roads if there is no parking close by.

U3A Armidale meets regularly in the Armidale Senior Citizens Association building on the corner of Markham Street and Barney Street.

The organisation’s president, Shirley Cook, said it was inconvenient for older people crossing those roads because they were major thoroughfares.

“The difficulty we have is that we have a great number of people who aren’t as mobile as they were in their youth, particularly on busy days it was hard for them to get access to the building,” she said.

U3A Armidale has a total of 600 members, 60 of whom could be there at any one time with Tuesday being the organisation’s busiest day, according to Mrs Cook.

Earlier in the year, the traffic committee investigated using either a parking space outside the National Australia Bank or another in front of Sportsgirl on Beardy Street, however, both of those were deemed inappropriate.