Guide Dogs welcomes Government commitment to inclusive streets

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association has welcomed the commitment shown by Government to inclusive design in its new Manual for Streets; to be published at the end of March.

The charity's support follow months of lobbying, urging the Government to take notice of the concerns of blind and partially sighted people, and other disabled people, regarding a dangerous design feature ('shared surfaces').

The Manual for Streets will be the guidance 'bible' on street design for local planners. Early drafts of the Manual supported the use of 'shared surfaces', where the demarcation between the footway and the carriageway is stripped away, with motorists and pedestrians sharing the same road space.

Right of way is meant to be negotiated through eye contact - which poses obvious problems for blind and partially sighted people. Guide Dogs also believes that 'shared surfaces' make streets more hazardous for people with a physical, sensory or learning disability; other disability organisations have expressed support for the charity's campaign.

Tom Pey, Guide Dogs' director of policy and development says: "We are pleased that the Government listened to what we had to say and is not advocating the use of 'shared surfaces' without measures to ensure they can be used safely by blind and partially sighted people and other disabled people. The guidance to local planners emphasises the importance of ensuring that street designs do not present barriers or dangers to disabled people.

"Guide Dogs has been alarmed by the increasing use of 'shared surfaces'
to fulfil 'shared space' design briefs, which are aimed at creating a more social space between pedestrians and motorists by removing traditional barriers. The desired effect is a streetscape which is safer for pedestrians - yet by stripping out street furniture, kerbs, and other visual cues, it has the opposite effect for blind and partially sighted and other disabled people."

Guide Dogs is running a research project which has been seeking to establish the extent of the problem with 'shared surfaces' and develop design solutions. The first part of this research concluded last autumn with a report on the results of focus groups in the UK.

The charity has commissioned international designer Bjarne Winterberg to develop potential design solutions that will be trialled with disabled people by University College London in the summer.

More information can be found at www.guidedogs.org.uk/sharedsurfaces