SHARED SURFACES

That this House welcomes the statement Shared Surfaces: The Implications for Disabled People, initiated by the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and signed by a large number of disability organisations representing a wide range of impairment groups; joins with those disability organisations in only supporting streetscape and public space developments, including those which follow the `shared space concept' (where pedestrians and vehicles share the space, often with a shared surface), which meet the needs of all disabled people, in looking to central and local government to meet their duties under both the disability equality duty and Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act in relation to highways functions; and calls on professionals involved in the design, development and monitoring of streetscape and public space schemes to take on board the needs of disabled people and on all parties to consult disability organisations at all stages in the process of developing streets and public spaces to ensure that they are truly inclusive.