Hi John,
What you need to do is to carry out an impact assessment. What impact would
the provision of new parking spaces have on disabled motorists, would the
decision not to include a designated space have any detremental affect, what
provisions are in place to provide adequate provision should it be
necessary.
There are a few other issues, such as, is the parking area restricted to
residents, or is it general purpose parking? If it is residential only,
then the residents should be consulted and included in any decision making
process. If it is general purpose parking, then it would suggest that
designated spaces would be required (anticipating the need for disabled
motorists to park) - again, this would require consultation with motorists
who park in the area. If the area was adopted as a highway, then the
monitoring of the parking spaces would be made easier by the new laws that
allow specified people, namely police, traffic wardens and local authority
wardens to inspect blue badges. I assume that this area would be classed as
on-street parking rather than off-street parking - off-street parking is not
covered by the new laws.
Cheers.
John.
John Gregory
Access Officer
-----Original Message-----
From: John Rainey [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 11 September 2006 11:13
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ACCESSIBUILT] Parking Scheme
Hi,
I need to know what other authorities are doing for schemes such as this so
you feedback will be valued and welcomed.
I need to report on a car parking scheme designed to improve vehicular
access & provide 10 extra parking spaces by converting a grassed square into
a car park. This will adopt the square as a highway. This is also a
residential area with no shops or commerce close by.
The DDA 2005 (effective 4 Dec 2006) and the new guidance for Panning and
Highways from the DRC states there is now a duty to proactively promote
disability equality. The DRC guidance suggests highways functions should now
be treated as if they were a service under Part 3 DDA so we have an
anticipatory duty. Does this mean that we may need to include at least 1
disabled parking bay within the scheme?
The technical officer has said that they have not been made aware of any
disabled person in this immediate area and if they provide a disabled
parking bay and it is not used, the residents will complain as the scheme is
designed to improve the parking problem. He also said that it was not
envisioned that anyone other than the residents would park there and that it
would therefore be unreasonable to provide a designated space.
The officer also has stated that because the spaces would be 2.6 metres wide
instead of 2.4 metres it would be easier to burn off the markings to make a
wider space should a request for a disabled parking bay be made by a
resident.
The legislation is new but there are many such parking schemes in the
planning and this would set the benchmark for the others.
----------End of Message----------
Run by SURFACE for more information on research, consultancy and the
distance taught MSc. in Accessibility and Inclusive Design programme visit:
http://www.inclusive-design.it Archives for the Accessibuilt discussion list
are located at http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/accessibuilt.html
This e-mail (including any attachments) may be confidential and may contain legally privileged information. You
should not disclose its contents to any other person. If you are not the
intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately.
Whilst the Council has taken every reasonable precaution to minimise the risk of
computer software viruses, it cannot accept liability for any damage which you
may sustain as a result of such viruses. You should carry out your own virus
checks before opening the e-mail (and/or any attachments).
Unless expressly stated otherwise, the contents of this e-mail represent only
the views of the sender and do not impose any legal obligation upon the Council
or commit the Council to any course of action.
________________________________________________________________________
This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star. The
service is powered by MessageLabs. For more information on a proactive
anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit:
http://www.star.net.uk
________________________________________________________________________
----------End of Message----------
Run by SURFACE for more information on research, consultancy and the distance taught MSc. in Accessibility and Inclusive Design programme visit:
http://www.inclusive-design.it
Archives for the Accessibuilt discussion list are located at http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/accessibuilt.html
|