WAVERLEY wheelchair users could be left high and dry next month as one of the few services available for transporting them is set to close. The Godalming-run charity DisCASS, Disabled Citizens' Advice and Support Service, announced to customers last week that it would be closing because its high running costs made it impossible to continue to offer its services. DisCASS is one of the only services available to wheelchair users in need of a lift. Taxi companies in Haslemere cannot transport people in their wheelchairs because cabs are either too small or not fitted with the correct equipment. Local cabbies have said the cost is too high to justify the expense of buying and installing such equipment. South West Surrey MP Jeremy Hunt, shadow minister for disabled people, said Waverley Borough Council needed to do more to encourage taxi operators to convert their vehicles to allow for wheelchair access. Mr Hunt said: "I am very concerned about the future transport provision for disabled people in Waverley. I find it shocking that there are no licensed taxis in Waverley which are converted to allow for the transportation of wheelchair users. This, coupled with fact that DisCASS is being forced to close its transport service, is very disturbing indeed. "Waverley Borough Council needs to act immediately to encourage taxi operators to convert their vehicles. Before the Liberal Democrats ousted Christine Pointer, I wrote to her as the chief executive of Waverley Borough Council to ask her to take urgent action to rectify this situation. I am now chasing a response from other officers on this issue." DisCASS chairman Dominic Webb said the reason the charity was originally set up was because of a lack of the service in the area. He said: "As far as I am aware there are not any taxis suitable for disabled people in the Waverley borough. That is why we started the transport service, but because of the costs we are going to be closing on May 31." Nigel Patrick, from Haslemere Executive Taxi Service, has been working in the area for 12 years. He said: "The problem is there is not enough of that type of work and you do not receive enough calls to justify the expense." Private taxi service operator Keith Harrison, from Fernhurst, said that Waverley Borough Council had tried to force public taxis into providing disabled access a few years ago. "So the company would just become a private hire," he said. He added he did not think there was a great need for taxis for disabled people in the area, and he rarely got calls from people needing the service. A spokesman for Waverley Borough Council said it was looking into the matter and that new measures were up for discussion. He said: "The council recognises that there is a lack of availability of disabled accessible taxis in the borough and is doing everything it can to improve the situation. "To encourage taxi firms to make provisions for disabled people, Waverley offers a reduced licence fee for any taxi or private hire vehicle which has been adapted for disabled access. This fee is £90 as opposed to £210 for 2006/2007 licences."
