Disability charity praises new signs plan at Teesside Park

This week, the popular shopping complex confirmed it would be adding new signs at disabled car parking spaces following an intervention from The Northern Echo. 

It came weeks after the centre came under fire for displaying misleading information on signs for blue badge holders, which directly contradicted information published online. 

Angie Stewart, inclusion and engagement lead at charity Disability North, previously described the situation as “crazy”, saying parking should be “designed with inclusivity in mind”.One of the electronic signs at Teesside Park (Image: CONTRIBUTOR)

Now, she has welcomed the “fantastic” news  of the changes, which include being able to register vehicles before visiting, saying it will “help everyone to feel welcomed” at the site. 

She told The Northern Echo: “Making the parking more inclusive shows that Teesside Park has listened and valued their customers' feedback. 

“They have also supported the shops, restaurants and entertainment venues on the site to open their doors to the 16 million disabled people in the UK - they have a spending power of £274 billion a year! 

“A huge thank you to everyone involved for supporting inclusivity to become a reality”.

Signs for blue badge holders at Teesside Park (Image: UGC)

The Northern Echo previously reported how signs outside accessible parking stated that there were “no concessions for disabled people”, meaning they had to adhere to the four-hour time limit across the Retail South car park. 

However, bosses later confirmed it was able to co-ordinate allowances for those with a blue badge, if they visited the customer services centre near Sports Direct. 

Just this week, new electronic signs were pictured stating that “blue badge holders [can] register [their] car to extend stay" - which was later confirmed by Teesside Park as one of the new ways it is increasing on-site signage to communicate the disabled parking provision. 

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The complex is also set to implement even more signs across its accessible car parking spaces, and has introduced a new option for customers to call in to share details of their blue badge and car registration number, instead of visiting customer services.

A spokesperson for the complex said: “We want everyone who visits Teesside Park to have an enjoyable experience and work hard to ensure we offer an inclusive environment for everyone. 

“We appreciate all customer feedback and, after listening to this and also taking advice from an independent disability and diversity consultancy, have updated the on-site signage and part of the process for our car parking system.”