The High Court has given the go ahead for our campaign partner, Guide Dogs to proceed with a legal challenge against Kensington and Chelsea’s shared surfaces development plans for Exhibition Road, London.
We welcome this challenge as we believe that the proposed development of a shared space in Exhibition Road poses a grave risk to the safety of deafblind people and other vulnerable road users.
Jim Lewis from our Public Policy Team explains, “We have been working with Guide Dogs to find a solution which works for all users of the area around Exhibition Road, with a particular focus on the needs of deafblind people. The proposed single surface would remove all kerbs, recognised standard pavements and a range of familiar safety features from this area. For full road safety under the proposed scheme all road users would have to be able to see and hear, but deafblind people have not been considered. This can only lead to a scenario where deafblind people’s safety is compromised.”
