Tessa Munt, MP for the Wells and Mendip Hills constituency, which covers rural areas and villages surrounding Burnham-On-Sea such as Brent Knoll and East Huntspill, is backing calls for new housing developments across Somerset to include a set number of homes designed for wheelchair users.
Tessa is supporting a campaign by Accessible Wells for Somerset Council to introduce the requirement now rather than waiting for its new Local Plan, which the campaign group says could leave wheelchair users waiting years for more suitable homes.
The campaign has been backed by Wells and Mendip Hills MP Tessa Munt, who said the distinction between homes which can potentially be adapted and those ready for a wheelchair user was important.
The campaigners say Somerset Council has spent nearly £14 million over the past four years adapting existing properties for disabled residents.
The group argues that requiring more suitable homes when developments are first built could reduce the need for costly alterations later.
Ms Munt said: “A home that is adaptable is not the same as one that is ready to meet the needs of a wheelchair-user.”
“Failure to recognise that distinction can have serious consequences for disabled people and their families as well as for council taxpayers, the NHS and social care services.”
Accessible Wells has lodged a discrimination complaint with Somerset Council over its approach.
In its response, quoted by the campaign group, the council acknowledged that “some of the current adopted development plans across Somerset did not include specific requirements for wheelchair-accessible homes”.
The council said the issue would be considered as part of its new Somerset Local Plan, including evidence about present and future housing requirements for wheelchair users and other disabled residents.
Accessible Wells campaigner Theo van Hensbergen said waiting for that process would take too long.
He said: “Pushing the requirement for new developments to include wheelchair accessible housing out to 2029, when the new Local Plan should be published, means we are unlikely to see any benefit for wheelchair users until the early 2030s, and that is unacceptable.”
The group is calling on Somerset Council to introduce requirements for wheelchair-ready or easily adaptable properties in new developments before the new Local Plan is adopted.
