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PLANNING AND ACCESS FOR DISABLED PEOPLE

The Importance of Supplementary Planning Guidance for the

Development of Best Practice

1. THE BACKGROUND.  In his foreword to the Guide for Planning Authorities in England the then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister [ODPM], Tony McNulty, outlined the Government’s commitment to an inclusive society and to the aim of “..breaking down unnecessary physical barriers and exclusions imposed on disabled people by poor design of buildings and places.”  He emphasised the importance of disabled people being “..properly considered as an integral part of the development process”, and “..of early consultation with [them] when preparing planning applications.”

2. It is estimated that 20% of the adult population, some 11.7m people, have a disability.  Over the next 40 years the number of people over 65 is set to rise by 40%, while the population as a whole is set to increase by only 7%.  In addition to people with physical and sensory impairments there are currently a further 18m people who directly or indirectly benefit from inclusive access to buildings and public spaces.  These include older people, families with children under the age of five, carers and the friends and relatives who accompany people with disabilities.

3. Powerful economic and social arguments are an added incentive to the aim of an inclusive society.  However, the successful achievement of this aim clearly relies on the positive contribution of all parties involved in the design, procurement and construction of buildings, those who occupy or invest in them, and those who grant or refuse statutory consents, particularly planning permission.

4. THE LOCAL EXPERIENCE OF DISABLED PEOPLE.  The initial interest in accessibility, which we experienced when, in 2004, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 [DDA] became law, has now disappeared.  We feel that many service providers and businesses quickly realised that the Act has no effective enforcement provisions [other than individual disabled people having to take them to court to prove that they had not taken ‘reasonable’ steps to provide access – which few if any disabled people can afford to do] and as a result had no pressing need to take any action.  The Access Group, which normally would have at least sixty requests a year to carry out access surveys for local establishments, has not received one request in the last six months, and we are not aware of any previously inaccessible services making themselves accessible.

5 Recent developments in Brecknock, both new construction and refurbishments, show clearly that the DDA can be safely ignored.  We have many examples in South Wales generally where new developments, some of them public buildings, have completely flouted the planning and building control aspects of the DDA and any notion of inclusivity.  The reasons have, in some cases, been outside the control of the local planning authority: the increasing use of private building control officers and the range of refurbishment work not requiring planning consent create significant loopholes for developers to deliberately perpetuate bad practice.

6. Even where planning permission is required major problems exist.  The first is that there is a tendency for planners to ignore accessible design issues at the planning stage on the assumption that building control officers will pick up the pieces at the construction stage – by then, of course, it is usually much too late.  More serious is the increased use of private companies who assume the role of building control officers – paid by the developer to ‘sign off’ whatever they choose – and totally negate the power of the planning authority and its building control officers. The net result is planners passing the buck to building control, not all building control officers being sufficiently committed to withstand pressure to ignore accessibility from developers, and when an officer does insist upon adherence to building regulations the developer goes ‘private’ and pays to avoid their responsibilities under current legislation. The lesson we learn from this is that the key stage where inclusive design is embedded into a development must be at the planning application stage, and that it is too late to modify design issues or remedy omissions once planning permission has been granted.

7. THE NEED FOR SUPPLEMENTARY PLANNING GUIDANCE.  In view of the overall lack of focus and direction apparent from the various problems referred to above the Brecknock Access Group [and the organisations of disabled people elsewhere in Wales] is convinced that only the adoption by every planning authority in Wales of firm guidelines and procedures will not only remove some of these anomalies and loopholes, but also reverse the present culture to one where the aim of ‘no more inaccessible buildings’ for future generations of disabled people to campaign about is paramount.

8. The ODPM has already issued guidance on the promotion of inclusive design for buildings and public spaces for English authorities. The various proposals, set out below, recommended for adoption by the Welsh Assembly Government and all planning authorities in Wales, generally accord with the ODPM document.  These proposals should also be considered in the context of the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, whereby all public bodies are required to be pro-active in initiating policies and procedures to promote disability equality, and also to involve disabled people and their organisations in that process.

9. PLANNING POLICY.  Every planning authority is required to prepare a development plan for their area – either a structure plan, local plan or unitary development plan – and to keep it up-to-date. To quote directly from the ODPM document…”Because of this requirement the single most effective way of ensuring the consistent delivery of inclusive environments during the development process is to include appropriate inclusive access policies in the development plan and to consider refusing planning permission to proposals that do not meet the necessary inclusive design standards.”  The Brecknock Access Group agrees with this and strongly recommends both Powys County Council and the National Park Authority to amend their respective Plans accordingly, and also require that planning proposals should accord with and relate to standards such as BS8300, Part M and other building control regulations and policies on Lifetime Homes and Wheelchair Housing.

10. PLANNING PROCEDURES.  The ODPM document for England states that…”Our research highlights that inclusive design is often not closely considered by planning officers for the following reasons:

- inclusive design is not seen by planners to be of relevance to planning applications;

- an absence of pre-applications discussions means that applicants unknowingly submit

  inappropriately designed schemes;

- an absence of an up-to-date development plan or supplementary planning policy guidance       

  on inclusive design means many officers do not raise inclusive design as a relevant issue;

- a lack of planning staff with a suitable understanding of inclusive design means that many

  applications are not adequately scrutinised.

These findings accord with the Access Group’s experience.  Accordingly we believe the following procedural and administrative innovations should be adopted [in conjunction with the revision of the Plan as outlined above] to ensure the consideration of inclusive design becomes an integral part of the planning process:

i) planning officers should be obliged to seek pre-application discussions with applicants to ensure the submission of suitable schemes which will avoid disruption and amendment at later stages of the development;

ii) planning officer should encourage liaison between the applicant and the local access group or disabled people’s network to seek accord on the access aspects of the development;

iii) the planning authority should issue guidance notes to applicants emphasising the necessity of inclusive access in all cases;

iv) as well as amending application forms where necessary to make applicants think pro-actively about inclusive design there must be a requirement for all applicants to submit an access statement with their application: the statement should set out how the development will provide full access for all potential users and the source of advice and guidance consulted: no application should be considered without such an access statement being submitted: these requirements should be imposed on all applications – change of use and both commercial and private construction:

v) greater openness is required to allow easier participation by members of the public, in particular disabled people: full details of all planning applications should be published in such a way that members of the public have sufficient opportunity to examine and comment upon them: in particular special arrangements should be made for disabled people and their organisations to have easy access to the plans and relevant documentation, and also to the planning officer’s and/or Planning Committee decisions:

vi) a system should be devised to provide for greater liaison between planning and both building control officers and the local access group or relevant organisation of disabled people: this can be achieved by periodic meetings and training sessions for newly appointed officers, as well as discussion on specific developments where inclusivity is a major issue:

vii) as with (v) above the building control process  needs to be more open: currently there is a discretionary power available to officers to discuss with parties other than the developer their role and the reasons for their decisions: this should become mandatory so that disabled people and their organisations can become involved in the process before any development is completed.

11. THE DISABILITY EQUALITY DUTY.  As outlined in para. 8 the 2005 DDA imposes both general and specific duties on public bodies when they consider disability equality.  Among the objectives of the General Duty are the promotion of equality of opportunity for disabled people, to eliminate discrimination and to “...take account of disabled peoples disabilities even where that involves treating disabled people more favourably than other people.”  The Specific Duties include the requirement for each public body to publish a Disability Equality Scheme “demonstrating how both these duties will be met.”

12. The Brecknock Access Group is of opinion that the many barriers to equal access to buildings and services is one of the prime causes of inequality and discrimination for disabled people, and also that any Disability Equality Scheme cannot effectively consider the elimination of discrimination without referring to the issues surrounding the planning and development control and building control functions operated by planning authorities.  The Access Group further believes that unless specific policy and procedural changes are quickly introduced into the planning process the aim of inclusive design for all buildings will not be achieved.  As we have seen, despite recent legislation, a new generation of inaccessible buildings is still being created.

13. We urge Powys County Council and the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority to adopt as a guiding principle the determination to make inclusive design an integral part of the planning process and that this principle be reflected both in the adoption of the recommendations set out above and in their respective Disability Equality Schemes.

Brecknock Access Group

September 2006

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