Disabled cyclist claims installation of cycle route barriers puts council in breach of ECHR
A disabled cyclist is challenging Newcastle City Council over barriers on the National Cycle Route which bar his access to a cycle path.
Alastair Fulcher, aged 61, who lives with Parkinson’s disease, has sent a legal letter to the council to challenge the lawfulness of the barriers.
His lawyers, Leigh Day, said Fulcher is able to get about by using a recumbent tricycle, a two-metre cycle widely used by disabled people.
However, the cycle path at Pottery Bank, known as National Cycle Route 72 (NCR 72), has had two barriers installed at the East and West side which block his way in, the law firm added.
Fulcher claims the installation of the barriers puts Newcastle in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and Human Rights Act 1998, the Equality Act 2010 and Department for Transport planning guidance for local authorities.
He argues that the council has “failed in its duty to make reasonable adjustments to avoid the disadvantage that he and other people with disabilities have suffered”, said Leigh Day.
The ECHR Article 2 Protocol 4 enforces the right to freedom of movement. Article 14 prevents discrimination in securing the rights and freedoms laid out in the Convention.
Leigh Day said: "The Equality Act states that unlawful discrimination because of disability takes place if the disabled person’s treatment cannot be shown to be proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.
“Alastair does not accept that Northumbria Police reported concerns about motorcycle related anti-social behaviour justifies installing the barriers at NCR 72."
The law firm added that as Fulcher has been put at a disadvantage by the barriers, he argues that “indirect discrimination has taken place in relation to his protected characteristic of disability”.
Leigh Day human rights solicitor Ryan Bradshaw, representing the claimant, said: “It is always disappointing to come across infrastructure that is inaccessible to disabled people. The fact that these barriers have been installed on a National Cycle Route compounds the issue. All cycling routes should be inclusive and accessible by default, disabled people should not have to threaten court action in order to enjoy the types of leisure activities the rest of us can take for granted.”
A spokesperson for the disabled people's cycling organisation Wheels for Wellbeing said: “Barriers on cycle routes are preventing disabled people from making local journeys using all sorts of mobility aids, and restricting access to exercise, recreation and natural spaces, which are all so important for physical and mental health. If there really are problems with abuse of paths, it is a policing matter. Authorities need to make it easier to report problems to the police, not discriminate against disabled people with inaccessible barriers."
Newcastle City Council has been approached for comment.
Lottie Winson
