Council removes “shameful” barriers that blocked access to York cycle route

Crippledbiker wrote:

Oh, and it's a preemptive duty, not a reactive one - date of installation is irrelevant, and the test is basically binary. If an invalid carriage cannot get through, and it's an area the user is otherwise entitled to access? WHOOPS, time for daamages! Applies to public and private spaces, no excuses, very few exceptions.

I'm not generally in favour of some incoming council having to carry the can for the past and for taking it to court ... except for this seems to be the only way to get councils to do things and they almost always drag their feet so GOOD! Very pleased to hear this. Worth even having to pay three times (for the council to defend something they shouldn't, for the damages and finally to do what they should have done in the first place by undoing what was wrong originally).

If misuse of motorbikes is your problem stopping or seriously inconveniencing people's wheelchair / cycle access is not the solution.

They've had 27 or 12 years, depending on how you want to count it, to sort this shite out.

It should be noted that the majority of Local Authorities (LAs) don't fight - they simply cave - my record is about a week from installation to removal, resulting from my sending a templated FOI that positively screams "hello I am about to sue you".

There is also the issue of specific officers or councillors who want a particular barrier or set of barriers because Reasons; Antisocial behaviour or "my constituents want it" are reasons often given.
Again, I don't give much of a damn - Those reasons do not allow them to override the law.

You also sometimes see the "on police advice"; Frankly, the police are wrong, and frequently do not know the law on this front.

Hey, here's a fun thing; Go read Criminal Damage Act 1971 Section 5, and then think through the implications for a wheelchair user presented with an impassible barrier preventing them from accessing a pedestrian route they have a legal right to use.

Cheers CB.

Any idea on how they are managing to spend 100k on a review?

I mean how much more is it going to cost to remove these?

This is actually an interesting thing - When a legal challenge is made against a specific barrier, it can actually save the LA a lot of money; It sidesteps all review processes for fairly obvious reasons.

The review process here will probably include assessments of all relevant routes, identification of applicable barriers and candidates for removal, investigating if there are any binding legal or contractual reasons they cannot remove them, and so on and so on.

Whereas I can waltz along, go for £1300[1] damages, and get 1p + costs + binding agreement to remove by a specified date. If they do it, cool, everybody moves on. If it's still there, I instant-win even harder and may get more damages for the violation of the agreement.

This is the legal playbook, written by the excellent Doug Paulley - https://www.kingqueen.org.uk/dart/

My contribution is the FOI, and realising that The DART could be applied here.

You can see a fast example of this process working here;

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/recently_installed_barriers_alon

The difference is York fought back. Oh, silly error...

[1]This is the minimum amount awarded for this type of discrimination. You don't go for £1300, or they just immediately settle without committing to fixing anything - Something Dr Wood found out. You go for WAY more, make it worth them negotiating or fighting. We actually WANT a court case - need the caselaw to make it super easy to slap LAs with!

Oh, and Je Suis Heavy Metal Handcyclist, obviously.

It's a shame you're not based in the North. There's a load of barriers that really need someone getting stuck in so that they can be removed...

There are other wheelchair users available, and I do find myself occasionally oop noorth, so it's not impossible that I might find myself near a barrier which I can get myself stuck in.

Also, the only bit where you need an actual disabled person involved is if the council fights back - the FOI alone is often enough to spook them into fixing it.

How does it work with footpaths across farm land? I assume that's a separate thing as it's 'permitted access'? I ask because there's a couple of footpaths near me which have been rendered inaccessible by the installation of new stiles within the last couple of months and I was wondering why there was no law against doing so.

There is a law against it - EA2010 S.20(3),(4),(5), S.29.

It is illegal to allow pedestrians, but exclude disabled pedestrians requiring a mobility device.

Damages start at £1300.

You can also just straight up break things - CDA71 S.5

Alas, the response will probably be to remove access in general.

hawkinspeter wrote:

Great news. Shame it takes so long to correct mistakes.

It is almost impossible for most people to admit that they've made a mistake e.g. politicians; which is why we have to wait for a change of government for things to be remedied.

Like the quote complex "science advances one funeral at a time" (see here for variants and possible source).