When two disabled parking bays were removed from Gardner Street, more were created in neighbouring Regent Street as a mitigating measure, according to Brighton and Hove City Council.
One of the bays in Gardner Street was eventually restored for part of the week after a disabled resident had been left trapped at home for almost a year.
But now the council wants to scrap five of the eleven dedicated disabled parking bays in Regent Street. Instead, they are to be converted into income-generating pay parking bays.
BADGE (Brighton Access for Disabled Groups) asked about the proposed changes when Brighton and Hove City Council’s Transport and Sustainability Committee met on Tuesday (26 March).
We were extremely disappointed with the response to our questions – not least since we previously met with the chair of this committee and the equalities lead for this administration.
On that occasion, we discussed the historical and ongoing difficulties around parking and access to the heart of our vibrant city for disabled people who rely on a car or wheelchair accessible vehicle to get out and about.
The original report on the Gardner Street traffic regulation order (TRO-22-2022) contained a clear recognition that existing disabled access needed to improve – in paragraph 4.2 of agenda item 55 on page 445.
It said that even if the Gardner Street closure didn’t proceed, officers “recommend continuing with the installation of the additional disabled parking bays (in Regent Street) to create better disabled parking provision and allow blue badge holders better access to facilities in the North Laine area”.
The council’s report also acknowledged that the double yellow lines in Regent Street were a popular central parking option for blue badge holders – the badge allows parking on double yellows for up to three hours – but commercial vehicles often obstructed them.
So they were converted into designated and protected disabled parking bays to create a formal parking solution to improve access to this part of Brighton.
The solution recognised the fact that pay bays, which can, in theory, be used by blue badge holders, are often inaccessible to those who are eligible for a blue badge.
A standard parking bay is 5m in length while a designated disabled bay is 6.6m. This is because a blue badge holder may, for example, need to be certain of being able to drop a ramp to get in and out of their vehicle or have clear space around the boot to hoist a chair in and out.
And they also rely on the fundamental premise of disabled parking bays being as close as possible to their destination.
The response to our request to retain these disabled parking bays was that “the demand will be monitored” together with a request for data from us.
This approach is fundamentally flawed. It’s impossible to monitor disabled bays that are no longer there.
Blue badge holders have told us that if their chances of finding a disabled bay are halved then they may not even bother to go into this part of Brighton because it’s so disappointing to have to give up and go back home.
The need was already established in a November 2022 committee report – and this was the reason for the bays being installed in the first place – and it was agreed by this same committee.
But the response on Tuesday places an unreasonable “burden of proof” on blue badge holders to prove that we need disabled parking bays.
The same demand for proof isn’t asked of drivers who are “not disabled”. Nor has the council provided any specific evidence that supports the demand for pay bays from “not disabled” drivers.
This is an unreasonable and potentially discriminatory approach and an ignorance that the introduction of the Accessible City Strategy is designed to stamp out.
The “data” is that there are 13,500 blue badge holders in Brighton and Hove – as well as visitors – who need more than a fair crack at being able to find accessible parking that they can use.
That’s the whole point of the blue badge scheme – it’s a reasonable adjustment under the Equalities Act, designed to promote inclusion.
Now the council has decided that it’s reasonable to halve blue badge holders’ chances of finding a bay. One of our members who complained was even told that “officers are unable to determine which proposals may or may not impact disabled bay users”.
The removal of a run of disabled bays in the heart of Brighton – specifically installed for blue badge holders – is only going to affect disabled bay users.
So the proposal demonstrates a worrying lack of understanding, application or “care” of inclusive practice and of the council’s own Accessible City Strategy.
We also don’t understand why the council didn’t take the opportunity to discuss their plans openly with us.
We give up our own time to attend regular meetings of the Disabled Car Users Advisory Group (DCUAG), hosted by Possability People, along with council officers from the blue badge and transport infrastructure teams.
We have always found these meetings to be productive and collaborative. The DCUAG was the obvious forum for the council to highlight its intention and to assess the impact on our blue badge community.
This is one of the fundamental principles of the Accessible City Strategy – to engage early and transparently with disability stakeholders.
The Accessible City Strategy was launched and lauded in July 2023. On the opening page it states: “‘Increasing equality’ is a central principle in how we plan, finance, deliver, commission and review our services.
“We also take a leading role in seeking to increase equality, inclusion and fairness in the city.
“Our commitment to equality and inclusion is unwavering even with the financial challenges we face.
“Our aspiration is for a more equal city where no one is left behind and where everyone shares in the city’s prosperity and is respected.”
BADGE invites the administration and new chief executive Jess Gibbons to read the Accessible City Strategy, overlay the fundamental inclusion principles, listen to their equalities officers, who have already raised their concerns, and agree to keep these disabled bays in place.
To remove them is to fail to live up to the council’s own commitment to “increase equality, inclusion and fairness in the city”.
Pippa Hodge is a founder member of BADGE (Brighton Access for Disabled Groups Everywhere).
The council’s response is absurd. They know full well that they are dramatically reducing already woeful levels of accessibility in our town centre. They just think they can get away with it. They are, once again, seriously underestimating the strength of the disabled community in Brighton.
And who do you think is in control of Brighton, oh that’s right, Greens, Liebour, Libs etc. If you think the Tories are taxing us more and more then just wait until Liebour are in No. Ten and supported by the Greens etc.
Disabled bays in Brighton are always in high demand – please don’t remove any without replacing as it seriously and negatively impacts on our ability to access businesses and events in central Brighton.
They absolutely are, especially as there are even fewer stretches of double yellow lines in and around the city now. The Regent Street bays also serve the accessible entrance to Komedia which has lift access to all floors and is really popular with its events and cinema.
Completely agree, there needs to be advertised Blue Badge spaces and more of them, so everyone can know where they are.
I thought the idea was to have less cars in town, not more. The only reason we take a car into Brighton at all is because it is really difficult to get my husbands Triride on the buses (we tried once, he nearly got stuck). By taking away disabled spaces and giving them to paying spaces, you may gain short term revenue, but at what cost to our community.
If the idea is to monitor usage, may I suggest that they start monitoring from now for 6 months. If at that stage the spaces are not being used by Blue Badge holders then we only have ourselves to blame for the spaces being taken away. If they have already done that analysis, please let them share with the community.
Brighton is becoming less and less accessible for our large disabled community that not only live in Brighton but the surrounding areas that like to be able to visit,we visit regularly to enjoy the restaurants,theatres and the Laines experience ,however it is becoming more of a struggle to park ,so to make it more difficult by taking more spaces away shows a complete lack of care and understanding for this important community,this was supposed to be a more inclusive accessible city,this is exactly the opposite! You can’t monitor something that isn’t there,this is absurd,why not monitor them now and see how much they are needed!
Cllr Muten just does what the Transport Dept tells him to do. They don’t care about the disabled.
By its own admission, BHCC has lost millions of pounds of revenue by removing parking spaces for little used cycle lanes, practically unused Beryl bikes and hangars.
As a result, they have to screw more from the motorist.
The fact is the Transport and Parking dept don’t care about the old or disabled
My experience is that, particularly at popular times, all the disabled bays in Regent Street are in high demand. As such, if five disabled bays were taken away, I (and other disabled people) would be very likely to encounter the situation of being unable to park and therefore prevented from accessing the shops and services in proximity to Regent Street. Please don’t take away these vital blue badge parking spaces.
Please don’t remove more disabled bays, I sometimes have to return home with my disabled child as it as when we can’t find a space.
What is it that Brighton doesn’t like about disabled people? Because this seems to be happening an awful lot. Are we principally being targeted? Already we’ve been basically banned from the South Lanes because of the inability to have a disability vehicle in there. We are not properly consulted regarding our disability needs so that we can get into central Brighton. This is our city as much as it is for people that can walk around really easily, and we are being completely left behind.
And now they want to remove blue badge spaces where there needs to be a whole lot more instead, they are laughably lacking in the North Laine as it is. We are not properly consulted as to the disability needs we have so that we can get into central Brighton, and this is for all sorts of reasons, a quick nip into town, working all day, living there, visiting, who exactly are they catering for. The Council should be advertising these Blue Badge spaces. Brighton is supposed to be a welcoming and inclusive.
The disabled (and old) simply don’t fit with the dogma driven idiot officers on the Transport department.
Sorry – if you can’t cycle: you’re not welcome in ‘our city’
Obviously all about revenue raising and nothing to do with disabled access. Why say initially in their own report these were needed regardless if Gardner Street was opened or closed and then remove them later? Why for revenue only. Labour say they are listening and I guess money talks.
I can hardly ever get into the town centre through lack of disabled parking. It will be a travesty if these spaces are removed. The disabled are second class citizens in this town. It’s a disgrace.
My experience is that, particularly at popular times, all the disabled bays in Regent Street are in high demand. As such, if five disabled bays were taken away, I (and other disabled people) would be very likely to encounter the situation of being unable to park and therefore prevented from accessing the shops and services in proximity to Regent Street. Please don’t take away these vital blue badge spaces.
My experience is that, particularly at popular times, all the disabled bays in Regent Street are in high demand. As such, if five disabled bays were taken away, I (and other disabled people) would be very likely to encounter the situation of being unable to park and therefore prevented from accessing the shops and services in proximity to Regent Street. Please don’t take away these vital blue badge spaces.
When are we going to get councillor’s that REALLY understand the issues of disabled people? As blue badge holders, we know we can use pay bays but that can upset the able bodied drivers?? Its not just the bays what about toilets ???? Why is our group of diverse people constantly let down???
Brighton and Hove council need to include disability as part of their inclusion plans. It is not just elderly with a need for a stick. The people of this town deserve to have some common sense abide and prioritise making the city accessible to all – not just the fit and able. We thought we were getting a kinder, broader empathy from a new council as we had already been hammered by the greens and their insistence on bike lanes squashing our access to the seafront. Please do not make disabled people pay for the bad mistakes of losing all that parking. We need to not go with what we have – put it back to how it was and help residents, tourists AND disabled people enjoy this town, and make better use of the prom/lawns for cycle provision. It’s not our fault bad choices were made. We deserve to live here too.
The disabled (and old) simply don’t fit with the dogma driven idiot officers on the Transport department.
Sorry – if you can’t cycle: you’re not welcome in ‘our city’
Once again Brighton excluding disabled people from life in Brighton. They tried to injure us by putting disabled bays between the cycle lane and the busy road, then they kept someone trapped in their flat for a year and now they just remove the very spaces we rely on! Shame on you Brighton!
You talk the talk but fail to walk the walk – we don’t have a choice to do the walk, we need our wheels and a place to park them.
What another disappointment from the BHCC. Their contempt for disabled people is getting so overt that they seem to be actively wishing harm through their discriminatory policies and perpetuation of socially engineered trauma to the marginalised and disadvantaged members of their community. Pippa is a leading light for us who have less of a voice and advocates with such integrity for us all that we’d be lost without such a wise professional voice. The council need to have a clear pathway to liaise with the disability groups for all major decisions that affect the lives of their disabled residents so significantly and demonstrate their professional, ethical and societal values through Their approach to being an accessible city for all. I used to be so proud to live here and now I feel more and more persecution for being a wheelchair user wishing to go and enjoy our city and feel overwhelming shame at the council for their blatant constant discrimination and attacks on those less able-bodied.
Change of council, but no change in discrimination against Blue Badge parking. When I try to park in Regent Street they are always occupied or only 3hr bays are available, so to remove more of these bays is blatant discrimination against disabled residents. Accessible City Strategy is farcical if the council do not engage with disabled groups to ascertain how changes affect them. Disabled people are not responsible for underfunding of the council from central government, just stop taking our disabled bays we need to be able to access the City just like everyone else.
I am so fed up of having to search for parking spaces. I when I need to go to that part of town go very early in the morning. Often to find non blue badge holders filling the blue badge spaces, as they know they have till about 10 am before the traffic warden arrives
Really thought we would get better from this administration, (after the quite appalling actions of the previous Green council), but it looks like more of the same. I can’t decide if councilors are too spineless to stand up too useless officers or if they quite simply don’t care.
I hope that none of those making these decisions are ever in need in later years and, if they are, they face the same discriminatory actions as they are using now. Shame on them for being so uncaring! They should be looking at providing more disabled parking. Not removing what is already there.
It’s all about money pure and simple.
This council couldn’t careless about people with disabilities as demonstrated by their actions. Ordinarily you would say they should be ashamed of themselves but clearly they have no shame.
Regent Street this afternoon- every single disabled bay is occupied. If they take away 5 bays it will undoubtedly stop disabled people being able to access the North Laine. We need more protected blue badge parking, not less!
it’s already so difficult to leave the house and find ANYWHERE to park in brighton- often my mum has to just turn around and drive us back home when there is inevitably no parking, this would make that even worse
My experience is that, particularly at popular times, all the disabled bays in Regent Street are in high demand. For example, this afternoon every single disabled bay was occupied. As such, if five disabled bays were taken away, I (and other disabled people) would be very likely to encounter the situation of being unable to park and therefore prevented from accessing the North Laine. We desperately need more protected blue badge spaces – not less!
First it was removing blue badge bays in the laines during the pandemic to allow businesses to offer outdoor seating, which were never compensated for or removed afterwards. Then it was putting a bike lane in between bays on the seafront and the pavement, which I’m telling you from experience as a blue badge user IS dangerous and stressful to use. Then it was trapping a disabled person in their home so that the cities army of over-privileged numpties can sit in the middle of the road drinking their oat lattes… now they’re *shamelessly* excluding us even further for the sake of profit. Brazen and arrogant don’t begin to cover it. I’m not usually the demonstrating type but I think it’s time for us to get making signs and put plans to gather… We can’t keep letting this city ignore us with smirks on their faces. Enough is enough.
This is what you voted for !!!!
Both Labour and the Greens hate the disabled and this is reflected in everything they do.
I’ve said it once I’ve said it a million times, transport department needs sacking. Half of them don’t have driving licences so are completely unqualified for the role.
Until the transport department put viaduct road back to 2 way traffic I’ll hold nothing but contempt for them. It’s the main east west transport corridor… But you can’t travel west on it lol. Dumb as hell.
They can’t some of the disabled use the car park around the corner? Just asking before someone rants at me