A council criticised for installing “discriminatory” barriers on a cycling and walking route in Bolton, apparently to prevent anti-social behaviour, has admitted no equality impact assessment was carried out pre-installation but believes it has still acted in accordance with design guidance.
The barriers appeared on Rothwell Street on a cycling and walking route, Bolton Council arguing their installation was a necessary reaction to criminality and people using the route to evade the police. However, cyclist and Bolton Active Travel Forum Technical Review Group member Dr Grahame Cooper, as well as many others, have called the council out for the inadvertent impact such barriers can have on people, particularly those with disabilities who may use an adapted cycle.
“Discriminatory” barriers (Image Credit: Dr Grahame Cooper/supplied)
“The real issue is that the barriers discriminate against people who use many types of cycle, including adapted cycles for users with disabilities, and the council’s failure to follow due process,” he told road.cc.
“The Public Sector Equality Duty, placed on public sector bodies by the Equality Act 2010, means that the council is required to assess the impact of the changes on protected groups such as disabled, elderly and pregnant people and record the reasons why the perceived need for the barrier outweighs that duty.
“They have admitted that they have not done that and there is no Equality Impact Assessment. This is particularly important if they are departing from national guidance. Before the barrier was installed, the 3.5-metre-wide path was perfectly adequate for shared cycling and walking use. Now that the barriers are in, there is conflict between the needs of people walking and cycling due to the bottleneck.”
The route has also become strewn with litter and broken glass since the barriers were installed, Dr Cooper suggesting it has created a “focal point for anti-social behaviour and littering”.
“Discriminatory” barriers (Image Credit: Dr Grahame Cooper/supplied)
However, of main concern is the inability for many cycle users to still be able to access the route. Explaining the decision to the Bolton News, Bolton Council said the barriers were introduced as a “temporary” measure to tackle “a prolonged period of anti-social behaviour and criminality”.
“People were using the route at the end of Rothwell Street to evade police officers,” a council spokesperson said.
“Working with Greater Manchester Police, the council installed the temporary barriers at the end of Rothwell Street to assist the police in tackling the anti-social behaviour which was blighting the local community.
“Installing the barriers is not an action taken lightly but there is still access for pedestrians and most cycles and it is expected that the barriers will only be a temporary measure.
“The design guidance for cycle infrastructure states that barriers should only be used if there is ‘a persistent and significant problem of antisocial moped or motorcycle access that cannot be controlled through periodic policing’ which is the case here.”
That final paragraph references the official Department for Transport guidance for local authorities regarding the design of “high-quality, safe cycle infrastructure”, but does not mention the fact that in the very next paragraph, the LTN1/20 guidance also states:
Access controls that require the cyclist to dismount or cannot accommodate the cycle design vehicle are not inclusive and should not be used
20 guidance (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)
The council reportedly also confirmed that it had not carried out an equality impact assessment, a process meant to help authorities consider the potential effects of policies, and to make sure they do not discriminate or disadvantage people.
Dr Cooper also tells us he has seen the response to a Freedom of Information request, made to Greater Manchester Police, which asked the force to “provide a copy of advice or communication from 2023” with Bolton Council or relevant councillors relating to the barriers’ installation.
“Following receipt of your request searches were conducted within Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to locate the requested information and I can confirm the information requested is not held by GMP,” the reply reportedly came.
Dame Sarah Storey, Paralympian-turned-active travel commissioner for Greater Manchester, said she would be working “with the police and local authority to find a long-term solution”. Campaign group Walk Ride Greater Manchester warned there are more than 100 similar barriers across Bolton.
Similar cycle lane-blocking barriers have been seen in locations across the country, campaigners and local riders calling on local authorities to remove them to make routes more accessible for all.
In January 2022, York City Council removed the “shameful” barriers that blocked access to a cycle route, while Stockport Council in the same year decided to backtrack on barriers installed to, as in Bolton, combat anti-social behaviour.
Back in September a cyclist in Newcastle sent a legal letter to the council to challenge the lawfulness of barriers on a National Cycle Route which prevent him from accessing the path on his recumbent.
Cyclist challenges council over barriers on popular cycle route that “discriminate against disabled people” (Alastair Fulcher) (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)
Most bizarrely was the case in Milton Keynes last year which saw ultracycling legend Steve Abraham criticise the local council’s move to install bollards on a cycleway as it meant the route was no longer accessible for those using cargo bikes.
The bizarre bit comes from the fact the cargo bikes in question, used by Abraham in his work as a courier, were themselves supplied by the council.
New bollards on Milton Keynes cycle routes (Steve Abraham) (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)
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Dan was the road.cc news editor from 2022-2026. He joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan mainly wrote news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, you’ll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he’ll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he’s a bit strange like that.
13 Comments
13 thoughts on “Under-fire council admits “discriminatory” cycle route barriers were installed without equality impact assessment”
Im still for and agasnt them
Im still for and agasnt them
We get a lot of dick heads on mopeds using such pathways as a speedway, often two or tree at a time.
But they do get in the way for the rest of us
Unfortunately, there’s no design that will stop a moped, but won’t stop a bakfiets. Even something weight sensitive, there’s considerable overlap between the weight of a light moped and a loaded cargo bike with a heavy rider.
Unless the criminals escaping from the police were using some form of vehicle more than 1,5m wide, I don’t really see the point of these barriers, because that’s the only people they’re going to stop.
“Installing the barriers is not an action taken lightly but there is still access for pedestrians and most cycles and it is expected that the barriers will only be a temporary measure.”
It appears to be a decision taken very lightly, with no reference to guidance, no Equality Impact Assessment, and no consultation with local cyclists. Seems pretty permanent to me, and if it’s only temporary, what is the permanent solution and when is it going to happen?
Someone should have a proper Someone should have a proper look at the A barriers in place at the Ancholme Valley Way trail (similar to these https://www.cycling-embassy.org.uk/dictionary/access-barrier), I struggle passing through them, even when just running. And they are no stop whatsoever to the motocross lot, as they just go through the farm grass verge.
This is yet another example of an attempt to use a technological “solution” for a law enforcement issue. There’s always edge cases that the designers/implementers don’t anticipate and meanwhile, everyone is inconvenienced by the barriers. It snaps my cranks that people are putting time, effort and money into building hostile anti-infrastructure i.e. designs that try to prevent people doing what they want similar to the anti-homeless sleeping designs of benches and bus stops.
What’s needed is to have law enforcement deal with law enforcement issues and in this case, I’d say that a handful of plucky drone operators could easily keep an eye on the path or better yet, revert back to having a physical police presence which is a lot more expensive, but also sends a deterrent message and increases people’s perception of safety.
… What’s needed is to have law enforcement deal with law enforcement issues and in this case, I’d say that a handful of plucky drone operators could easily keep an eye on the path …
— hawkinspeter
Bloody drones taking over the airspace, think the skies are made for them, flying right past red lightsno fly zones…
Ironically, the fact that the Ironically, the fact that the barriers are now surrounded by litter and broken glass suggests that people are using them as somewhere to sit and drink.
Ironically, the fact that the barriers are now surrounded by litter and broken glass suggests that people are using them as somewhere to sit and drink.
Ironically, the fact that the barriers are now surrounded by litter and broken glass suggests that people are using them as somewhere to sit and drink.
— bensynnock
And this is why we can’t ban drink-driving, because of the unintended consequences of displacing people who can’t now (perfectly reasonably) sit and drink in their vehicles…
@lawrence18uk Occasionally I see tradies travelling with some tools on the train, compact tool bags, rucksacks and wheelie luggage, often carrying long spirit levels separately, but on a couple of occasions collapsible ladders.
Finally some proper Gravel for the UCI World Championships!
…no dates in the article.
Racing starts today 10/11 Oct.
Watch it free on SBS 6pm
Go well Matt…
@Aluminium can - as an alternative to vans, yes cargo bikes (plenty in Cambridge), and I've been wondering whether supplies could be delivered from retailers - using delivery robots. and it's possible I suppose that ladders could fall in the same category - you could, instead of just hiring a bicycle, hire a ladder and it would arrive of its own accord.
@Rendel Harris There was a bit in the bicycle hating Guardian, a nice little read, part of his justification was to acclimatise to the heat and humidity, which if he was in a better car might have been worth it. Good luck to him, chapeau.
@SecretSam That's not really fair, in fact not fair at all. It wasn't his fault that the last two mountain stages were shortened and on the first one he had dropped everyone and was a minute clear as he summitted the Iseran when the stage was neutralised, and on the second he stayed with or dropped all the other GC contenders. You seem to have forgotten his Giro win as well as Paris Nice and the Tour de Suisse. Only the fourth rider to have won the Tour and Giro before the age of twenty-five. Yes he probably couldn't have stayed with Pogacar even if he hadn't had the awful crash, and probably nor could any other rider in history except perhaps Merckx.
@lesterama Bernal has had two whammys. His crash, which he has probably never fully recovered from and Ineos taking a nosedive. They have no focus and no identity.
I bought some Challenge Strada tyres. After a while the sidewalls began to detach from the tyre and the tread became rippled making them unsafe to use. The shop I bought them from asked me to drop them in and he would show the Challenge rep as he was due in the following week.
The rep bizarrely firstly claimed that the tyres had failed because they may have been punctured (they hadn’t), then immediately claimed that they had failed because the rear tyre was more worn than the front!
I emailed pictures to Challenge and was told they had failed because they had been fitted incorrectly. The black strip they had introduced to stop the issue I had was supposed to be above the rim. Which it clearly was shown to be correct on the pictures I sent to them which proved that the tyres were correctly fitted.
This seems to be the norm now in the cycle industry, if there is an issue with a product, the company automatically blames the end user rather than look to address the issue, thereby pissing the customer off.
A pissed off customer rarely returns.
13 thoughts on “Under-fire council admits “discriminatory” cycle route barriers were installed without equality impact assessment”
Im still for and agasnt them
Im still for and agasnt them
We get a lot of dick heads on mopeds using such pathways as a speedway, often two or tree at a time.
But they do get in the way for the rest of us
Dbloke wrote:
How will these barriers stop them?
Unfortunately, there’s no
Unfortunately, there’s no design that will stop a moped, but won’t stop a bakfiets. Even something weight sensitive, there’s considerable overlap between the weight of a light moped and a loaded cargo bike with a heavy rider.
Its ridiculous a knee jerk
Its ridiculous a knee jerk local council responses to “something must be done”
Unless the criminals escaping
Unless the criminals escaping from the police were using some form of vehicle more than 1,5m wide, I don’t really see the point of these barriers, because that’s the only people they’re going to stop.
“Installing the barriers is not an action taken lightly but there is still access for pedestrians and most cycles and it is expected that the barriers will only be a temporary measure.”
It appears to be a decision taken very lightly, with no reference to guidance, no Equality Impact Assessment, and no consultation with local cyclists. Seems pretty permanent to me, and if it’s only temporary, what is the permanent solution and when is it going to happen?
Plenty of criminal use roads
Plenty of criminal use roads to evade the police – maybe we should install barriers across those, too…?
I’ve seen people on mobility
I’ve seen people on mobility scooters taking a long time to navigate those barriers too
Someone should have a proper
Someone should have a proper look at the A barriers in place at the Ancholme Valley Way trail (similar to these https://www.cycling-embassy.org.uk/dictionary/access-barrier), I struggle passing through them, even when just running. And they are no stop whatsoever to the motocross lot, as they just go through the farm grass verge.
This is yet another example
This is yet another example of an attempt to use a technological “solution” for a law enforcement issue. There’s always edge cases that the designers/implementers don’t anticipate and meanwhile, everyone is inconvenienced by the barriers. It snaps my cranks that people are putting time, effort and money into building hostile anti-infrastructure i.e. designs that try to prevent people doing what they want similar to the anti-homeless sleeping designs of benches and bus stops.
What’s needed is to have law enforcement deal with law enforcement issues and in this case, I’d say that a handful of plucky drone operators could easily keep an eye on the path or better yet, revert back to having a physical police presence which is a lot more expensive, but also sends a deterrent message and increases people’s perception of safety.
hawkinspeter wrote:
Bloody drones taking over the airspace, think the skies are made for them, flying right past
red lightsno fly zones…They’re a menace to vulnerable sky users!
Ironically, the fact that the
Ironically, the fact that the barriers are now surrounded by litter and broken glass suggests that people are using them as somewhere to sit and drink.
bensynnock wrote:
Don’t worry: v2 will have spikes.
bensynnock wrote:
And this is why we can’t ban drink-driving, because of the unintended consequences of displacing people who can’t now (perfectly reasonably) sit and drink in their vehicles…