Dunedin's disabled residents who do not have their own transport will be able to rent a vehicle suitable for their needs for the first time next week.
Freedom Mobility, a mobility vehicle rental company, will be opening a new base in Dunedin. Currently there are no rental mobility vehicles available in Dunedin, although there are several mobility taxis available for hire.
The company has 17 mobility vehicles ranging from vans able to transport people in wheelchairs to vehicles with hand controls in its South Island fleet. However, these vehicles where previously only based in Christchurch and more recently Queenstown.
Freedom mobility director Margaret Hawkes said this meant it could be prohibitively expensive for people outside these areas to hire these vehicles for a short-time.
Mobility vehicles could be expensive, coming in at between $35,000 and $55,000 and some people found it difficult to afford them, she said.
Others had conditions that could change and it was difficult to predict their future needs, so buying a vehicle was less attractive, she said.
The ability to rent a mobility vehicle would also help cruise ship passengers who were not in Dunedin for very long but wanted to get out and explore independently, Mrs Hawkes said.
Dunedin residents with disabled relatives visiting town could also benefit from renting.
At the moment there was no mobility vehicle available for disabled learner drivers to rent to have driving lessons and sit tests in Dunedin, she said.
Initially, the Dunedin fleet would consist of one Toyota Hiace van with a hoist in the back but more vehicles could be moved to Dunedin if necessary, Mrs Hawkes said.
Disability Information Office service manager Sallyjane Cranfield expected the rental service would ''take off'' in Dunedin.
''Anything that allows more freedom of mobility is positive,'' she said.
Dunedin resident Donna-Rose McKay said she was familiar with Freedom Mobility and
the move would be a good thing for Dunedin's disabled community.
Although she owned her own mobility vehicle, she planned to hire one for her Auckland holiday next year as this was more convenient than taking four days to drive there.
She thought access to rental vehicles would be good for companies seeking to bring people to Dunedin for employment and also for disabled people wanting to decide whether to learn to drive.
- by Jonathan Chilton-Towle
