Disability campaigners fear that closing a popular shopping street to everyone except pedestrians and cyclists will act as a “curfew” on disabled people.
Two disability groups – Possability People and Brighton Access for Disabled Groups Everywhere (Badge) – have criticised the proposal to close Gardner Street to all traffic except bicycles from 11am to 7pm Monday to Friday.
This would extend the current weekend closures.
The proposal to extend the closures to weekdays is due to go before the council’s environment, transport and sustainability committee on Tuesday.
The scheme includes removing blue badge parking bays from Gardner Street and creating more in neighbouring Regent Street.
Possability People’s chief officer Geraldine Des Moulins is due to lead a deputation to the Brighton and Hove City Council committee.
She is scheduled to speak on behalf of Possability People and Badge before councillors decide whether to make the changes.
She is expected to say: “Gardner Street is a residential area and this closure would be imposing a curfew on disabled people, imprisoning them in their own homes between the hours of 11am and 7pm, preventing them from being able to attend essential health appointments or leave the area for any reason which will compromise their health and wellbeing.
“We contend that is a human rights issue and a safeguarding risk which hasn’t been addressed or even mentioned in the ‘equalities impact assessment’.
“However, the inadequate ‘equalities impact assessment’ being presented to the committee states that the only group with protected characteristics that are being disproportionately disadvantaged are disabled people.
“The only mitigation offered is that additional blue badge bays are placed in nearby Regent Street.
“However, it needs to be acknowledged that blue badge holders are already permitted to park for a limited period so this ‘mitigation’ does nothing to compensate for taking away the current bays.
“A further issue that has not been addressed is the distance from Regent Street to Gardner Street.
“People qualifying for a blue badge may not be able to walk or, if they can, for only very short distances.
“The ‘mitigation’ means to access the street blue badge holders would have to walk at least 150 metres to 200 metres or more and that is just one way.
“No individual who is in receipt of a mobility component can walk more than 200 metres. We contend this is not a mitigation but discriminates against 13,500 residents who are blue badge holders.”
The “equalities impact assessment” forms part of the report going before the committee.
It said that disabled parking bays are used 23 hours a day except when the road is closed at weekends.
The assessment said: “The loss of disabled parking bays in Gardner Street will hinder access to the street for blue badge holders.
“Disabled residents have stated that they will be unable to leave home without direct access to a disabled parking bay.”
The report said that removing the bays would restrict access to Gardner Street for blue badge holders who could not travel more than 50 metres.
If councillors decide to keep Gardner Street closures to weekends only, officers have advised that they approve seven extra disabled spaces planned for Regent Street anyway.
This would entail removing double yellow lines and marking disabled bays to make it an offence for delivery drivers to load and unload in the spaces.
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