A disability rights campaigner asked councillors to rethink the loss of blue badge parking spaces during events on Brighton seafront.
Pippa Hodge, co-founder of Brighton Access for Disabled Groups Everywhere (BADGE), raised the issue at a Brighton and Hove City Council meeting at Hove Town Hall.
She spoke out as councillors prepared to decide whether to grant landlord’s consent, in principle, for 18 events in Madeira Drive next year.
At the council’s Culture, Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Economic Development Committee meeting yesterday (Thursday 14 September), Ms Hodge said that she recognised that events in Madeira Drive boosted the local economy.
But, she said, blue badge holders were left feeling “unwelcome and kept apart”, giving the closures this year as an example.
She said: “Closures disproportionately impact disabled access – 27 high-demand disabled bays were lost across 16 weekends, including whole weekends, this year.
“So disabled people needing blue badge parking are blocked off from every event plus local attractions. BADGE raised this back in January.
“Will Brighton and Hove City Council as landlord create an events disability parking and access strategy to meet the protected parking needs of disabled people and fulfil your public sector equality duty?”
Ms Hodge said that BADGE was concerned that the impact of the “wholesale loss” of disabled parking and access during the various weekends when the road was closed for events had not been included in the relevant section of a report to the committee about the equalities implications.
She said: “This infers that it wasn’t considered or wasn’t considered important to the committee’s discussions, directions and decisions.
“Do you think that reports would be improved by a requirement to complete an early draft equality impact assessment document to encourage council officers to proactively consider projects through the lens of our accessible city strategy?”
After speaking with BADGE last year, the committee chair, Labour councillor Alan Robins, said that the outdoor events team had trialled methods to reduce the impact of lost blue badge spaces.
Councillor Robins said that public safety meant that the road had to close during events.
But next year, during the set up and take down – or blind and break days – there would be a managed system with signs to allow access to blue badge holders.
Councillor Robins offered to join the events team and BADGE on the seafront to look at what could be done to ensure the maximum number of blue badge bays were available.
He said: “It’s really important to me and to the whole administration that we get this right to help you and all the members of the BADGE team.
“I am really sorry if it (the equalities impact assessment) is something we have overlooked and I will try my best to make sure it doesn’t happen again and that you are one of the first considerations that we make.”
Outside the meeting, Ms Hodge said: “Oversights like not mentioning the total loss of 27 disabled bays during events shouldn’t happen when a council report has a dedicated ‘equalities implications’ section.
“This highlights the need for a more rigorous approach. If all reports had to have an equality impact assessment attached, even if the content shows there are no concerns at all, it would be a stronger approach that would ensure both the council and councillors pay closer attention to equalities and groups with protected characteristics.”
Council outdoor events manager Ian Baird said that the events team would work with event producers on accessible parking to find solutions so that the maximum number of spaces could be available.
And that these assessments would be required as part of events traffic management schemes.
Brighton and Hove City Council, superb as usual at doing what they always do- they can talk the talk, make it sound like they’re concerned, then when it comes down to it, come up with a raft of excuses for why they won’t actually do anything.
A reasonable enough request.
Lack of blue badge parking in the city centre is a huge barrier to access for people with disabilities every day, the suspension of 27 bays during these events must be offset with alternative provision for blue badge holders. Equality Impact Assessments should be thoroughly considered as an integral part of all reports.
This is not a valid complaint where MD is concerned.
BB parking has always been removed from the site for as long as I can remember.
Parking elsewhere is also limited following ‘Green’ policy so it’s no surprise really.
Hope a solution can be found.
Really important that disability issues are taken into account at the start of planning these big events as surely we all want to go to them too, let alone our families and friends that get left out as well. This idea of Brighton as an Accessible City needs to be taken seriously, did they just ‘forget’ disabled people yet again, or purposely plan for this too happen yet again, or hope that disabled people won’t come along. It’s about time they understood people need their own vehicles to get to these events if disabled. This is the Council planning for all the main events of the year and they forget this!! It is a necessity that should be programmed in and part of the acceptance that the event can go ahead. Another year wasted!
What about all the disabled spaces BHCC have removed from the actual city centre as well?
As for all the new businesses built along Madeira Drive, not ONE of them is compliant with DDA requirements.
Who is checking them nowadays.The council has gone to pot since it got rid of its directly employed Clerk of Works.
To make matters even worse disabled persons are excluded from the new council disability panel.
Why can’t the empty bike lane be used for blue badge holders then you could have 100 happy bb ‘s
…because it’s a bike lane, Peter.