Guide Dogs condemns award nomination for Brighton’s shared space

The Brighton Argus reported on Thursday that the high street had been put forward for an award from the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE).

However, the charity says that the £1.5 million road scheme has become a no-go area for blind and partially sighted people, including guide dog owners.

After conducting before and after surveys of New Road, Guide Dogs has found that those vulnerable pedestrians now feel unsafe and confused when using the area and avoid going there.

Guide dog owner and Hove resident Richard Schaverien, who works in Brighton, said: “I used to be able to use New Road when visiting the Theatre Royal, the Dome and the park without difficulty. The new shared surface means there are many more urban obstacles such as chairs and tables from bars and restaurants which I have to walk around, often into the road. A car cannot judge what I am going to do so I do not feel safe using this area.”

Shared surface streets - when roads and pavements are built at the same level with little or no delineation between areas for vehicles and pedestrians - put blind and partially sighted people, disabled and elderly people, and young children at risk.

A common reason cited for introducing shared surface streets is to create attractive shared ‘social’ areas and make streets more ‘people-friendly’. Pedestrians, motorists and cyclists need to make ‘eye contact’ to establish priority which obviously undermines the safety, confidence and independence of blind and partially sighted people and other vulnerable pedestrians.

Guide Dogs has worked with Brighton and Hove Council since 2006 to try and make New Road a safe place for all pedestrians.

The charity suggested a number of  measures to the New Road design including the use of guidance paving, a raised divide between road and pavement and not causing obstructions to pedestrians with street furniture and café chairs. However, many of these issues have not yet been sufficiently addressed. 

Jill Hill, a trustee of Guide Dogs, also lives in Brighton. She said: “The shared surface in Brighton’s New Road should not be rewarded £1.5m is a very large amount of money to make an important and now very attractive part of Brighton a no-go area for some members of the community.

“A taxi struck me as I walked along New Road with friends. It was worrying, and would have been much worse if I had been blind or partially sighted. Guide Dogs has asked for steps to be taken to improve New Road to make it safer but no measures have yet been taken."