Southwark Council has told blue badge holders opposing the Dulwich Village Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) restrictions to think about the children.
In an open letter, blue badge holders had urged the council to lift measures stopping disabled drivers from going through the junction.
But Southwark Council has replied saying blue badge holders aren’t the only people with “protected characteristics” – and that kids and mothers benefit from the scheme.
The letter from a council officer said: “You will be aware of the high usage of the junction by children, wheelchair users, pushchairs and pedestrians with mobility impairments, which is significantly higher in volume than blue badge holders.
“All of the aforementioned groups, and cyclists, would be significantly adversely affected if the Dulwich Village/Calton Avenue junction was opened up and widened to allow the two way passage of blue badge holders.”
Currently, pedestrians, cyclists and emergency service vehicles can pass through the junction but blue badge holders cannot.
In April 2021, Southwark Council announced that blue badge holders would be exempt from blue badge restrictions following a public outcry.
But these exemptions only applied to ANPR cameras around Dulwich Village. Blue badge holders were, and still are, banned from passing through the junction itself.
A spokesperson for local campaign group One Dulwich said the council lacked “sympathy” and failed to address the points they’d raised.
They said: “Blue Badge holders are, of course, aware that the Council’s Public Sector Equality Duty applies to all groups with protected characteristics and have never suggested nor implied that people with disabilities should be considered in isolation from other groups.
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“The point being made is that it is discriminatory to prioritise physically able cyclists and pedestrians over physically disabled residents who are car-dependent – or for that matter any other group who, because of their protected characteristic, are vehicle-dependent.”
One Dulwich also disputes the notion that the junction is used more by other protected groups.
Their spokesperson wrote to Southwark: ”We are not aware of the statistics that show the relative percentage usage of the Calton Avenue/Dulwich Village junction by groups with different protected characteristics – perhaps you would be kind enough to share these with us.
“Of course every group currently using the junction does so in higher volumes than blue badge holders because blue badge holders are not allowed to drive through the junction.”
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