Improving Outdoor Accessibility Through Lived Experience

Accessibility tags

3rd December 2025

The world is not designed with people with disabilities in mind. Mobility access is often provided as an after thought, with decisions being made to improve accessibility by non-disabled people, with no lived experience. 

The Putting Down Routes project aims to make the North Downs Way National Trail and Kent Downs National Landscape more welcoming and accessible to more people.

As part of Putting Down Routes, and in collaboration with Cinque Ports Mobility and partner Gini Mitchell (Wild With Wheels CIC), we introduced a series of Lived Experience sessions to highlight the barriers and challenges faced whilst navigating outdoors and on the trail on wheels.

We have run seven sessions, inviting key decision makers in policy, planning, design and maintenance of paths, trails, streets and highways an opportunity to understand first-hand the challenges of spending time in the outdoors when reliant on a wheelchair.

These sessions involve attempting everyday activities—such as passing through gates, using lifts and accessing toilets, visiting cafes, and tackling inclines, uneven terrain, puddles, and branches—while in a wheelchair.

Peter Morris, North Downs Way Trail Manager, says:

‘The Lived Experience for me was a real eye opener to the challenges people using wheels face in everyday life. Having to factor in a lot more access logistics – steps, drop kerbs, safe crossing spaces – and feeling totally vulnerable when in amongst other users – cars, pedestrians, and so on.

‘I was encouraged by the number of people who went out of their way to help – allowing me to cross roads, traffic stopping, people holding open doors etc which was nice to see.

‘The idea was to give others (largely our colleagues) the same experience, so they could factor this into future works. This has already paid dividends, with the vast majority of our Public Rights of Way colleagues having undertaken the training at some stage and factoring accessibility into our maintenance and enhancement work on our routes and trails from the outset.

‘We have met with colleagues and their contractors who interpret works specifications and briefs and deliver the on the ground schemes that ultimately dictate whether a route is accessible. We’ve taken our partner Gini Mitchell (Wild With Wheels CIC) on site to meet with contractors to demonstrate specific issues which has already made a difference, such as our work on the North Downs Way at Wye.

‘We have put this experience to practice when carrying out trail audits and have identified a number of enhancements that will make certain sections of the trail much more accessible. With a little more time, resource and funding we hope to deliver more access projects to make longer sections and specific locations more accessible.’

Maria McLauchlan, from the Public Rights of Way team at KCC says:

‘The session was a real eye-opener, and many of us now have a new-found appreciation and admiration for wheelchair users and what they have to put up with.

‘The purpose of the day was to raise the awareness of non-disabled persons to some of the everyday difficulties faced by those who require the use of wheelchairs/ powerchairs, etc. What may seem like small things such as cambers, partially dropped or non-dropped kerbs, no signage, inclines and slopes, etc., can have a huge effect on someone’s independence and confidence.

‘A variety of wheelchairs and mobility scooters were provided, from the most basic, which needed to be pushed by an able-bodied person most of the time, to some off-road versions that could pretty much take you anywhere (but at a cost – more than your average family car – that would be out of the price range for the majority of users).

‘Part of the experience was held in a local country park where muddy ground, large puddles, fallen branches and slippery slopes all combined to test the strength and stamina of the users of the wheelchairs. But even getting to and from the park, along the roads and footways, proved problematical. Steep cambers drew the wheelchairs towards the road, and this, coupled with wheelie bins taking up most of the width of the footways, made it a real challenge.

‘We came away from the day feeling rather humbled and with a huge admiration for people who have to use this type of equipment on a daily basis. It has also provided us with a fresh perspective on how we can make changes to our public rights of way when possible to enable those with mobility issues to enjoy the network with greater confidence and independence.’

Other feedback came from Highway Engineer Oliver Dann, who said of the Lived Experience he attended: ‘It was absolutely brilliant and certainly gave me a lot to think about in my role.’ And from Graham Rusling, Head of Public Rights of Way and Access Service, of the Lived Experience he and his team attended, ‘It was a really impressive and hugely valuable session’.

We are planning one more Lived Experience in Folkestone in February, 2026. If you would like to attend, please email caroline.williams@kentdowns.org.uk

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