London Demolition Order A Reminder Over Disability Access

The importance of disability access in modern buildings is something everyone should be aware of. Where possible, they should be fitted to existing buildings - such as a wheelchair platform lift at a railway station, although there are cases where modification is not possible. But when a new building is constructed from scratch, there is no excuse.

A reminder of how important disability access is can be understood from the details of a high-profile enforcement order made by Greenwich Borough Council.

The local authority made headlines by imposing their largest-scale enforcement order ever against Comer Homes, the developer behind the Mast Quay Phase II development, a scheme that involved 204 apartments spread over three towers.

So bad was the development and so at variance with the plans Comer was given planning permission for in 2012 that the council ordered the buildings to be pulled down, citing at least 26 shortcomings that breached the planning agreement.

While these ranged from failing to provide a play area for children or rooftop gardens to smaller windows and balconies and an unauthorised reduction of ground floor commercial space, several of the flaws related directly to failings to provide access for those with wheelchairs.

These included a lack of wheelchair access to balconies (which had steps) or to the residents’ gym, plus a shortage of disabled parking bays - the latter a part of a general shortage of underground parking.

While the extent of the failings was so great that it cannot be said wheelchair users were specifically targeted, the fact they were not well served by the design or construction certainly adds to the list of problems. However, it may also serve as a useful warning to developers: get this wrong and your whole development may have to come crashing down.

This does not just apply to residential or commercial buildings. The same is true for new transport facilities. This is a point taken on board with the design of the Crossrail Elizabeth Line, with all 41 stations having step-free access.

At present, step-free access is also available on 92 London Underground and 60 London Overground stations, with ten other Tube stations set to gain step-free access by the end of 2024.

Because of the age of the system, many of the older stations are still blighted by a lack of step-free access, although modification work can do something about this in many cases. This has been demonstrated in Glasgow, where the entire Subway is Victorian, having never been expanded from its original 1896 route. All 15 stations now have step-free access.

In the same way, older buildings can also be modified in all sorts of ways. The Equalities Act 2010 and Disability Discrimination Act 2005 provide the legal powers to ensure disabled access to public buildings.

Where a building is listed, it is still legally permissible to make alterations to accommodate accessibility needs, with English Heritage having produced guidance on how to balance potential conflicts between the need for access and the conservation of buildings in their historic condition.

If so much can be done to ensure wheelchair users and others with disabilities can access old buildings, it is small wonder local authorities will not put up with failure to provide this access in new developments.