Campaign for wheelchair accessible pavements
Friday 2 August 2024
Hebden Bridge Disability Access Forum have taken action over advertising boards, café tables and chairs obstructing the pavement in Hebden Bridge.
They have pressed Calderdale to ban static advertising boards ("A boards") and enforce their system of issuing "pavement licences" with strict conditions about leaving sufficient pavement clear for pedestrians and wheelchairs.
The above video shows wheelchairs navigating the
pavement when the cafés are not crowded
See the video, taken on the pedestrianised area of Bridgegate, to show how impossible it is to travel along the flat, flagged pavement as a wheelchair user when customers are sitting at tables on this part of the pavement outside a café.
The photo above shows the same cafés a little more
crowded than when the video was taken
To avoid the tables and chairs, the wheelchair user is forced onto the cobbled part, which is very uncomfortable, painful and causes damage to wheelchairs.
See this video short showing wheelchair users struggling over cobbles.
The cobbles also make it very difficult for parents with buggies, and those pulling cases to the station.
The café furniture is a partiicular hazard for people with visual impairments wanting to walk in a straight line along the pavement with a white cane which is difficult to use on cobbles.
The group is keen to support local businesses and their suggestion is for a compromise whereby the chairs and tables are placed on the cobbled area beside the road, which vehicles do not need for access, and therefore the flagged pavement could be left clear for pedestrians, wheelchairs, the visually impaired, buggies and so on.
Wheelchair users forced on to the cobbles by café tables and chairs
Katherine Bland (Calderdale Rehabilitation Officer for the Visually Impaired) wrote the following:
Further to our meeting on Friday 26th July 2024. I must concur with your observations regarding the tables and chairs on the smooth flagged area. I work with visually impaired people regarding mobility and orientation skills. I am working with a lady who does not have any residual vision and she finds this area particularly difficult to negotiate. The sight loss has affected her confidence, and she feels embarrassed when she must negotiate her way between the tables and chairs when completing her routes within Hebden Bridge.
The long cane easily snags in the tables and chairs which means that she is constantly having to change her cane technique when negotiating these obstacles. When people are sat at the tables this increases the difficulties for my lady. I am trying to help build her confidence to travel safely and independently using a long cane but negotiating these obstacles affects her confidence. Due to muscular skeletal problems, she has problems when negotiating the cobbled areas, which cause pain and discomfort to her wrist with the jarring of the cane against the cobbles.
I am aware that wheelchair users are affected greatly when having to negotiate the cobbles too. I am wondering if it would be possible for the seating areas to be moved away from the shop fronts which would leave a clear pathway for my lady, guide dog users and wheelchair users who need to negotiate Hebden Bridge on a regular basis. There have been problems with A boards in addition to the street furniture. Also, the metal bollards that are often placed at the side of the tables and chairs, to form a barrier are another snagging hazard for the cane.
It would be simple, reasonable adjustment for the tables and chairs to be moved away from the front of the shops so that people can travel safely on the smooth paving, thus creating a win, win, situation for both the cafés and the pedestrians.
Pavement licence essential bits:
3 Permission Required
3.1 Permissions to use the highways for pavement cafés are granted by the issue of licences by the Council as the Highway Authority under Section 115E of the Highways Act 1980. Tables and chairs placed on the highway without permission are an illegal obstruction and the Council will take enforcement action to remove such obstacles in such cases
4.3 A clear pedestrian route must be maintained. There must be a clear width of 1.8 metres between the boundaries of the pavement café and the kerb at all times. In a pedestrianised area there must be at least 3.6 metres of clear unobstructed space in front of the café to allow access for emergency vehicles.
4.6 If it is intended to design the café with a pedestrian route passing through it then that route should be as straight as possible and free from obstructions.
4.7 The presence of tables and chairs should never discourage pedestrians using the footway.
4.11 Space should be left between tables and chairs and other items of street furniture giving adequate circulation space to allow access for all users including those in wheelchairs. This may mean reducing the number of tables and chairs.
5.5 Menus should be readily available either at the tables or on request. A-boards must not be used to display menus or advertise the café.
9.1 The pavement café licence must be displayed along with the pavement café plans in a prominent place and be available for production at the request of authorised council officials and officers from West Yorkshire Police.
See full document from Calderdale Council: Pavement Cafés: A guide to their operation in Calderdale
A board licence essential bits:
3. Policy Principles
- Businesses must only have one board directly outside their own premises. A boards must be positioned at the back edge of the footway (against premises boundary) which must leave a gap of no less than 1.8 metres of unobstructed footway from the A board to the kerb edge.
- A boards will be no more than 60cm wide and 100cm high.
- The Aboard must be positioned within the curtilage of the premises to which it relates. ·
- A boards must not be secured/padlocked to other street furniture.
- If within a short distance a proliferation of A boards results in pedestrians finding it difficult to navigate the highway, the council will investigate, and owners will be asked to remove A boards until agreement can be reached.
See full document from Calderdale Council: For the placement of advertising boards on the publicly maintainable highway.
For further information about Hebden Bridge Disability Access Forum, please email sechbdisabilityaccess@gmail.com