City leaders hope to make the streets safer for disabled and elderly people under plans formally agreed by the council
Leeds City Council drew up a Street Charter which sets out measures to make it easier for people to get around. Bins left on pavements, advertising boards, overgrown shrubbery and defective footpaths were among the issues looked at.
The charter was approved by the council’s executive board at a meeting today (22 April 2026).
Deputy council leader Jonathan Pryor said: “The purpose of the charter is to provide a clear, shared understanding of the barriers affecting our city streets.”
The council worked with charities representing blind and disabled people to draw up the plan.
A council report said: “The proposal to formally adopt the Leeds Street Charter will have a significant and positive impact on the accessibility, inclusiveness and usability of the city’s street environment.”
The Deaf Blind Society, Guide Dogs, Older People’s Forum and the council’s social services department were among the organisations involved.
Householders and refuse workers would be encouraged not to leave bins on pavements. The report said: “Many disabled people collide with wheelie bins or cannot get down their own street.”
The council would work with the police to keep pavements clear of parked vehicles. The Street Charter said drivers who parked on the pavement often thought they were doing the right thing by keeping the road clear.
It said: “The result is that people with sight loss often cannot see the obstruction until it is too late and collide with the parked vehicle.”
Cyclists would be encouraged to stay off they pavement and bike ‘by-passes’ would be introduced at bus stops. The charter said near misses with cyclists could lead to a loss of confidence in going out independently for disabled people.
It said: “Being passed by a fast moving cyclist is unnerving for anybody, but particular so to an older, blind or partially sighted person.”
The charter was formally approved by councillors at the meeting at Leeds Civic Hall.
This post was written by Don Mort, Local Democracy Reporter
Inconsiderate parking in Beeston in 2017. Credit: Bruce Davies
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