The request is contained in the Government’s ‘Inclusive Transport Strategy’ which aims to promote equal access for people with disabilities. It also says that Local Transport Note 1/11 (Shared space) will be temporarily suspended to allow Government to carry out research and produce updated guidance.
 
Government also said it is currently considering recommendations made by CIHT in its review of shared space, published in January, and of the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee which provided its own assessment of the CIHT review.
 
The Inclusive Transport Strategy acknowledges that there are “mixed views” on the impact of shared space and that groups representing visually impaired people have “expressed concern that shared space schemes were dangerous and difficult to navigate” in response to a recent consultation.
 
It added: “We want transport professionals to deliver inclusive infrastructure which meets the Public Sector Equality Duty and involves active engagement with groups representing the interests of older and disabled people. We will work with the institutions representing engineering and design professionals to achieve this.”
 
CIHT Urban Design Panel chair Peter Dickinson said that he understood the reasons behind the ‘pause’ in shared space schemes because, he said, some authorities might not have paid enough attention to their obligations under the Equality Act.
 
“It now gives an opportunity to carry out work that considers how spaces should be delivered and acknowledges that visually and mobility impaired users have rights that have not always been fully understood in the past.
 
“Having said that, there will be continuing pressures placed upon local highway authorities and others to continue to deliver these sorts of schemes because the drivers are often economic regeneration, city and town centre redevelopment and better placemaking. So the sooner we get some appropriate research and then updated guidance to deliver improvements the better,” he added. “In the interim, it may be necessary for the Department for Transport to think about an explanatory note to clarify what this request actually means for practitioners in the short term.”

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