The Consultation Gap:

When a town centre is regenerated, the kerbs change. Routes change. Familiar landmarks disappear. The pharmacy that was two minutes from the accessible parking bay moves. The benches that made a long walk manageable are taken out during construction. For disabled people, these aren’t inconveniences; they’re barriers that can make the difference between independence and isolation.

And yet disabled people remain among the least effectively consulted groups on major development projects. The reasons are structural and deeply familiar. Public consultation events are often held in venues that aren’t fully accessible. Information is published in formats that don’t work for people with visual impairments or cognitive differences. Feedback mechanisms require digital literacy or physical attendance. The window for response is short and poorly publicised. By the time the project is underway, the opportunity to shape it has long passed.

This matters beyond the immediate impact on individuals. The Equality Act 2010 places duties on public bodies to advance equality of opportunity and to have due regard to the needs of disabled people. Planning authorities are required to consider accessibility as part of the development management process. But having a legal duty to consider something and actually reaching the people affected are two very different things.

The information problem

Much of the gap isn’t about intent. It’s about information. Disabled people often simply don’t know what’s happening on a site near them until it’s too late to engage meaningfully. Consultation documents are published on council websites. Planning notices are posted on lampposts. Neither of these routes reliably reaches people who have limited mobility, live further from the site, or have reduced capacity to monitor council communications.

Location-aware engagement changes this dynamic. When information is delivered to people at the point where it’s most relevant, as they move through or near the affected area, it reaches people who would never have found their way to a consultation event or a planning portal. Feedback captured in that moment is also richer and more specific: tied to a place, triggered by direct experience.

Getting this right isn’t just good practice. For disabled people navigating a world that is often designed without them in mind, it can make the difference between being part of the conversation and being left out of it entirely.