On the 8th of June 2010 your friendly local webmaster will be appearing at Furness Magistrates Court to answer charges of criminal damage relating to two dates in 2009 on which I (1). made the entry point to Furness Golf Club a little safer for mobility scooters and (2). cut a wire fence adjacent to a kissing gate in order to break back into Walney's Northern Nature Reserve after Natural England's new discriminatory boulder barrier had been denying all disabled access all summer.
The first video play list (4 short videos playing one after the other) clearly shows the reason for what I did on the golf course and the actual incident during which they claim criminal damage occoured.
The next video clip shows me attempting to use the official route which Natural England created in late 2009 specifically for my invalid carriage. Following the refusal by their nature reserve manager Martin Rhodes to restore proper disabled access to Walney's northern nature reserve as previously promised by him in correspondence between us I am now facing a court appearance charged with criminal damage for cutting a wire fence in order to excercise my right to be there.
That Natural England can even pretend that the above video represents an acceptable disabled access route is absolutley disgraceful. It was after having installed a winch on the front of my mobility scooter and giving it my best shot that I decided enough was enough, if Natural England weren't going to provide a safe alternative route into the nature reserve I would. So I cut the wire fence adjacent to the kissing gate which bars disabled access to the only other entry point and rather than negotiate a reasonable route they take me to court for criminal damage.
The following quote is from the Cumbria Rights of Way Improvement Plan produced by the Lake District National Park Authority, Cumbria County Council, and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, and illustrates the depth of the impact that denying disabled access to facilities can have on entire communities.
People with Limited Mobility
This includes wheelchair users, visually impaired people or blind people, people with pushchairs, and people who simply find it difficult to walk far, to negotiate stiles or rough ground. It is estimated that one person in five in the UK has some form of disability. In addition, any consideration of disabled people not only covers a wide spectrum of types of disability, but also a wide range of degrees of disability. It should also be remembered that a person's disability will also impact on their families, friends and assistants, when deciding on and participating in countryside recreation. Therefore, up to four times as many people may be directly or indirectly affected by mobility needs in the field of countryside access.
It is my opinion that Natural England, BAE Systems, Barrow Borough Council, and Cumbria County Council, are all falling woefully short of their obligation to implement the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act by not only failing to remove existing barrier but sanctioning the arrival on new ones such as this.
The North Walney Network:
The North Walney Network is my name for the collection of footpaths and tracks through the public spaces which are contained within the area bounded by Cows Tarn Lane, Walney Promenade, and Central Drive (open map in new window). According to councillor Melvyn Worth of Cumbria County Council who claims to be fully supportive of access equality and promised to look into ways of improving access he is now unwilling/unable to have any of the architechtural barriers removed from the network because "the pathways are inaccessible as they are overgrown as you know" [and the vegitation is the responsibility of Barrow BC, who for whatever reason have no footpath maintenance budget].
It's disctinctly odd that Cllr. Worth should think overgrown vegitation is the prime cause of lack of access since I'd already made him aware of the following extensive series of access audit videos which clearly demonstrate that the only insurmountable problems are man made obstructions such as kissing gates, stiles, undropped kerbs, gravel steps, and an assortment of steel and wooden barriers and bollards. I have also repeatedly offered him the use of a spare mobility sccoter so he can experience the problems with me first hand but despite feigning interest my offer was never taken up and in the 12 months that councillor Worth has been fighting on my behalf not one singe architectural barrier has been dealt with.
After months of waiting for my complaints of disability discrimation to be addressed it's simply not good enough hear that Cumbria County Council are attempting to pass the buck to Barrow Borough Council on the pretence that it is BBC's lack of a footpath maintanance budget which is the prime cause for lack of disabled access. The fact is that so far as made-paths are concerned I've only ever complained of my scooter having been stopped by overgrown vegitation once and that path has since been cleared. The only other instance of vegitation preventing access is on the circular path through the small wood that surrounds the North Scale lookout tower, and the lack of access there is so appalling that it applies to able bodied and disabled visitors alike and is not discriminatory and therefore outside the remit of this campaign. Overgrown vegitation isn't inherently discriminatory - but architechtural barriers are - and in full awareness of my campaign and this web site I do not think Cllr. Worth is within his rights to act as if my complaints are about anything other than disability discriminaton issues.
Identifying who owns what on the North Walney Network has also (and still does) create additional problems. Regarding one recently installed steel kissing gate (Access Audit 16) which is fitted with what I believe is a [vandalised] RADAR lock... Cumbria CC say the gate belongs to Barrow BC... Barrow BC admit it does - but insists that the jammed lock has recently been removed... yet eight months later the jammed lock is still there and a request for a site visit with the representative of Barrow BC who claims it's recently been attended to has been ignored.
Some people just don't listen. My issue with all the paths on the North Walney Network is the ongoing and discriminatory nature of their man-made barriers and the human barriers (such as Councillor Mel Worth)... not the appaling lack of civic pride which has led to the sorry state of the vegitation.
Phil Huck of Barrow Borough Council has now resorted to telling outright lies to MP John Hutton in a desperate bid to defend his failure to give full consideration to the council's Disability Equality Duty as required by law when deciding on what repairs were necessary to the structure of the boat launch ramp on Earnse Bay. A subsequent meeting with the council's chief officer Tom Campbell to see what could be done resulted in the rather interesting and intimidating quote "You have no rights", while Kevan Morrison (the council's access officer) disclaims all responsibility for the slipways and that he is ONLY tasked with overseeing access issues concerning buildings.
The problems began in late 2007 when the concrete boat launch on Earnse Bay began to break up after some particularly heavy winter storms. Until then the boat launch had been the only way disabled people had of reaching the beach, and it had also been continually used for able bodied pedestrian access without complaint ever since it had been built. Throughout the whole of 2008 the beach was out of bounds to the disabled but by early 2009 Barrow BC had begun work on repairs and I was once more looking forward to what had been almost daily walks on the beach with my dog. The day the repairs were completed and the slipway re-opened I visited the beach and found to my dismay that access was still being denied by a barrier of rocks some 6 or 7m wide. For four days I re-visited the ramp and moved rocks to one side and did eventually manage to acces the beach (once) but the effort was unsustainable and I had no option but to give up.
While clearing the rocks I soon began to notice things that worried me. Beneath the rocks a good 2m beyond the reach of the base of the new ramp I found rocks which simply wouldn't budge. Excavating small amounts of sand revealed that the immovable rocks were in fact solid concrete which could only have been the remains of the original ramp. Further investigation revealed a change in incline of the ramp in the vacinity of the newly repaired section that could only mean that the ramp had actually been shortened. (photos available) To the best of my knowledge all organisations such as councils have a legal responsibility to take Access Equality issues into consideration "in everything they do" and I find it totally unacceptable that not only were these legal obligations ignored or discounted but that new work had been done in a way which clearly disadvantaged the disabled. The increased incline on the ramp isn't a problem for powered invalid carriages (though it might well be for manual ones) but the shortening of the ramp had made a significant difference to the distance it spanned and what used to be a concrete ramp was now rocks, many as large as 30cm in diameter.
I contacted Phil Huck of Barrow BC who had done the repairs and was dismayed to recieve an instant defensive and negative attitude towards the problems. I subsequently contacted my local MP who expressed concern at my loss of access and who volunteered to negotiate with Barrow BC on my behalf and what transpired worried me even more. In written correspondence between the two Phil Huck totally ignored disability discrimination issues and made various diversionary irrelevant and misleading statement many of which are simply not true:-
the DDA applies to goods and services (omitted "facilities")
not reasonable to expect rocks to be cleared daily (they don't need clearing daily)
the ramp hasn't been risk assessed as a disabled access (I don't accept that it need be)
the angle of the boat launch ramp hasn't been changed (it has - photos available)
the beach is a dangerous place for the disabled (as it is for everyone)
While I concede that the presence of rocks is the result of natural processes I do not see how that relieves the council of their obligation to provide access equality by whatever means they deem necessary to an important facility where the able bodied are free to roam at will and where licenced public events are regularly held.
Thanks entirely to Gary Powell of Northwest Kitesurfing disabled access to the sands on Earnse Bay was possible for five full weeks in the wake of the 2009 BKSA Kitesurfing Competition which began on Friday 31st July. Access has become increasingly difficult again since then however and my first hand exprience of accessing the beach thoughout this period would suggest that rock clearance perphaps every three months would be all that was required until such time as a new and permanent (risk accessed) disabled access method could be provided if that's the solution the council prefers. Contact Kevan Morrison the Barrow Bourough Council's access control officer if you think that his remit should include outdoor public facilities as well as buildings.
Barrow Slag Bank/Red Man's Way: Early indications from Sue Hitchkiss of Capita Symonds that the barriers underneath Cocken Tunnell would be made disabled friendly ahead of the main project have so far come to nothing (8 months and counting).
South of Hare Hill: (Updated on 27/11/2009) The latest newly constructed discriminatory barrier to be ignored/sanctioned by Barrow BC is the old bund immediately south of hare hill. First constructed around 20 years ago as a flood defence the old bund was easily negotiated by any off-road class 3 mobility scooter, but recent modifications have involved placing a line of large boulders along the top of the bund which now prevents all disabled access.
In response to complaints about it's new discriminatory nature Roger Parkinson of Barrow BC's planning department had this to say:-
I have established that the bund was erected 20 years ago by the
landowner following the land being immersed in tidal water.The bund has
recently been re-sited to prevent it being lost to the sea.We find it
hard to believe from the photos you submitted that wheelchair access was
possible to the area as it does not look like a properly constructed
access path for wheelchair usage.In view of the timescale of its
construction there is no action can be taken under planning law.
Facts:-
Nobody ever suggested the old bund was negotiable in a wheelchair (a Class 1 invalid carriage)
Whether the bund was ever negotiable by a manual wheelchair is irrelevant to my objection since I don't (can't) use one
The old bund WAS negotiable on a powered Class 3 invalid carriage and now is not
The bund has most definitely NOT been re-sited in recent years, but the nature of it's construction has been changed quite dramatically
The introduction of boulders is a clear indication of a "change of use" of the bund. It's original purpose was to prevent floods... while the introduction of boulders is clearly an attempt to preserve the structure from erosion by motor vehicles
Because the nature of it's construction and intent has been so obviously changed I believe action could and should be taken by planning enforcement officers and that they should insist that a safe 1m wide gap be provided for use by powered invalid carriages
Once again Barrow BC are suggesting that because a given route isn't "a properly constructed access path for wheelchair usage" disabled people have no automatic right to access. This is the same argument that Phil Huck of Barrow BC is using concerning access to the beach on Earnse Bay, and it is simply not acceptable to say that because a given route wasn't purpose-built for disabled access the disabled have no right to use it.
Once again Barrow BC are declining to use the statutory powers they have in regard to the DDA which authorises them to excercise positive discrimination in favour of the disabled
Once again Barrow BC are totally failing to address the the loss of access to an area which affects ONLY people who are disabled
Please feel free to watch the video below so you can judge for yourself how delightful accessing the wild side of Barrow can be. And if you know of anyone who might benefit from having that level of access on a permanent basis please encourage every member of your family and all your friends to sign our petition or contact their local councillor or any of the relevant landowners as a token of support.
This is what Access Equality is all about - when the only thing that stops you is nature itself.
Thank you for your interest in access equality issues and I look forward to meeting you on one of our many outstanding scenic walks some time soon.
High resolution versions of most WalneyDog videos are available to logged-in Friends of Walney account holders from the High Quality downloads area, and are to be used strictly for personal non-profit use only.
Barrow Slag Bank/Red Man's Way: Early indications from Sue Hitchkiss of Capita Symonds that the barriers underneath Cocken Tunnell would be made disabled friendly ahead of the main project have so far come to nothing (8 months and counting). 
South of Hare Hill: (Updated on 27/11/2009) The latest newly constructed discriminatory barrier to be ignored/sanctioned by Barrow BC is the old bund immediately south of hare hill. First constructed around 20 years ago as a flood defence the old bund was easily negotiated by any off-road class 3 mobility scooter, but recent modifications have involved placing a line of large boulders along the top of the bund which now prevents all disabled access. 
