An equality screening is now to be brought before a full sitting of ABC Council after parties failed to agree on a recommendation to prohibit e-scooters and e-bikes from three local caravan parks and campsites.
Tuesday’s environment committee considered a report to amend terms and conditions around bookings for Gosford Forest Park, Clare Glen and Kinnego Marina.
For Sinn Féin, there was merit in prohibiting e-scooters, but to do so for e-bikes was a step too far.
It was Claire Duddy, head of climate, parks and sustainability, who had brought the report, flagging an incident this year where an e-scooter crashed into a caravan at Gosford, causing considerable damage.
Independent Unionist Alderman Paul Berry said he was happy to propose acceptance, adding: “I think it’s a very sensible move. As one who has a caravan, I know the dangers of it. I see young ones flying around on these constantly and it’s very dangerous, especially even if there are dogs on leads with owners and they come around a corner. It has happened in the past so I think it would be helpful.”
Ulster Unionist Kate Evans, who seconded accepting the recommendation, said she appreciated that a motion from herself in April, seeking updated by-laws to harmonise the three legacy council areas, would take time to work on.
And she added: “It is quite lengthy but it is important that we go ahead and do this in regard to the caravan parks.
“I’m surprised there’s only been one report (of an accident). I myself witnessed one of the e-scooters pulling out in front of a member of staff whenever they were driving around the forest park, so I’m surprised nobody has been injured yet.”
It was Alliance Councillor Robbie Alexander who sought clarity in relation to what the change in terms and conditions covered.
“When we say e-bikes aren’t permitted, are we talking about them being ridden?” he enquired. “I’m thinking about Gosford here specifically, because a lot of people are coming to Gosford to ride their bikes around the trails.
“If someone is disabled, then potentially the only option for them is to have an e-bike. I’m absolutely in agreement that we can’t have people riding e-bikes around cars, around caravans, that sort of thing. But is it a case that we’re asking people to dismount at a point or are we just saying flat-out that they’re not allowed to have them? Because surely people are going to bring them to the park to ride them around the trails? I want to be as inclusive as possible whenever we’re thinking about this.”
Ms Duddy said it was a “very good point and something that we have considered”, adding: “The intention behind the change in the terms and conditions is due to the speed at which the e-bikes and scooters can be ridden, sometimes 25 to 30mph, whereas in the likes of disability scooters you have speed restrictions which wouldn’t typically see them operate at those speeds.
“Our intention is to have people dismount bikes. We recognise that e-bikes are popular on our cycle trails which we have invested heavily in within the likes of Gosford Forest Park. We wouldn’t want to be discouraging people from using those, but we will be using a common-sense approach in our enforcement of it and encouraging people not to be riding the bikes or scooters within the confines of the caravan park, not the whole park.”
Sinn Féin Councillor Catherine Nelson said there were a “couple of things that caused concern” and her party would not be supporting the move for two reasons — equality and enforcement.
“Firstly, it’s not equality screened,” she said. “I find that astonishing that we wouldn’t think to equality screen something that may mean that both our disabled constituents or our constituents who are elderly could be impacted. Obviously, I can definitely see the point for e-scooters, but I would have a concern and certainly wouldn’t support a blanket ban on e-bikes here this evening, firstly without an equality screening.”
In terms of enforcing the change to terms and conditions, Councillor Nelson added: “We can’t enforce the situation with dogs within our parks. We can’t enforce people keeping their dogs on leads. We can’t enforce people picking up after their dogs and I find it really hard to believe that we are going to be in a position to be able to enforce this.
“We won’t support this this evening without the equality screen and going forward we’ll be proposing that, while there’s no issues with e-scooters, we need to take another look at e-bikes.”
The officer presenting the report accepted that no screening had been carried out.
But she explained: “It’s not our intention to exclude anybody with a disability and I accept that I neglected to do an equality screening in terms of this, but I’m happy to do that in the next number of days, linking in with our equality officer to do so. I’m happy to take that action point forward.”
And on the issue of enforcement, Ms Duddy added: “We do actually have some enforcement powers in terms of how we operate our caravan and campsites. We do have the opportunity, if the situation warrants it, to exclude people from booking with us in the caravan and campsites, so it’s slightly different from dog enforcement.
“We do have some limited powers available to us to address severe anti-social behaviour, but it’s all proportionate in terms of the actions that are undertaken and there is a responsibility on parents to supervise their children whilst on our sites, which I think is still included within the terms and conditions for the caravan park.”
Councillor Nelson said she appreciated work on the equality screening “would be helpful”, and added: “If it needs proposed this evening that we postpone it to full council, I’m happy to do that.”
Reiterating her position, she stated: “I can see the reason for a blanket ban on e-scooters. I don’t see a reason for a blanket ban on e-bikes.
“If we’re going to move forward and amend our by-laws we need to be specific about that.”
TUV Councillor Keith Ratcliffe said he was happy to back the recommendation.
“We all have a responsibility here obviously to protect all the owners in our caravan parks and facilities. I do support it,” he said. “I’ve seen scooters and things flying about all over the place and it really is an accident, unfortunately, waiting to happen. I do agree going forward that this is the way we should do it to try to protect everyone.”
Alliance Councillor Robbie Alexander said he believed Councillor Catherine Nelson’s proposal was “very sensible” that council wait for the equality screening and said he would be “more than happy to defer this to full council”, and for “just a little more thought on the bike situation”.
“I think the sensible choice would be to have people dismount at a certain point rather than just a blanket ban,” he said.
But Alderman Berry said he had read the report and asked for clarity.
“It’s not a blanket ban,” he said. “It’s about controls in relation to the use of them when they’re in our parks. Is that correct?”
The officer confirmed it applied to “those areas where people are residing for a period of time”, prompting Alderman Berry to add: “This is not a blanket ban. It would be daft if we were to put a blanket ban in. It’s just about control within a very small designated area in these different parks.”
He said his proposal stood and if there was an issue with the equality impact that could come back.
It was agreed that an equality screening would then be brought before full council later this month.
Ulster Unionist Kate Evans stated: “The purpose of this was never to have a blanket ban across the entire parks. We need to use a wee bit of common sense here.
“If we’ve got e-bikes and scooters that can hit 20mph, we don’t want them going through a car park or where people are camping and staying overnight.
“For goodness’ sake, just common sense. Dismount the bike. If you want to use it on the trails, use it on the trails. But there’s no need to be flying through crowded places on a scooter or a bike at 20 or 30mph.”
