We are pleased to share the following from Kingston Council’s engagement team:
The Council has now reached the final stage of consultation on Kingston’s new Local Plan. This is an important opportunity for residents, businesses and community groups to comment on whether the Plan is legally compliant and sound before it is submitted for independent examination.
Thank you for helping us ensure as many people as possible are aware of this final opportunity to have their say.
We’re getting in touch to let you know that the final consultation on Kingston’s new Local Plan is now open and we’d really welcome your views. The consultation runs until 11.59pm on Friday 4 September 2026.
The Local Plan sets out how Kingston could grow and change over the next 15 years, including where new homes, jobs, infrastructure, community facilities, culture and leisure opportunities could be located, while protecting the things that make our borough special, such as our parks, green spaces and local character.
The Plan also sets out where development can take place and the planning policies that will be used to make decisions on future planning applications.
What you can share your views on
At this stage, which is called a Regulation 19 consultation, comments must focus on whether the borough’s Plan is legally compliant and sound, as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), paragraphs 36-38. If you believe something has not been done correctly, or that the Plan does not meet the required standards, we would like to hear from you.
Once this consultation has closed, we will review all of the comments received, prepare and submit Kingston’s Local Plan to the Planning Inspectorate by the end of the year.
post your comments to the team: Spatial Planning Team, The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Guildhall 2, High Street, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 1EU
visit any open library in the borough or the Information and Advice Centre, Guildhall 2, High Street, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 1EU and pick up a printed response form and stamped addressed envelope
If you need the Local Plan in another format, or if you have a question, please email localplan@kingston.gov.uk or call us on 020 8547 5000 and we’ll call you back.
Join us at a drop-in session
If you’d like to find out more or ask questions, please come along to one of our borough-wide drop-in sessions:
Wednesday 12 August, 4pm to 7pm – New Malden Methodist Church (Lower Hall), 49 High Street, New Malden, KT3 4BY
Saturday 15 August, 9am to 1pm – Surbiton Farmers’ Market, Maple Rd, Surbiton KT6 4FB
Thank you for taking the time to get involved and helping to shape Kingston’s future
Secretary Keegan Hillier has also asked the Engagement Team if the KDN can have a disability-focused meeting with the Council surrounding the plan – we will update with their response!
Network members Kingston Sightloss Support (KSS) are looking for runners to take part in this year’s Kingston Half-Marathon, which takes place on the 4th of October. This is an excellent opportunity to enjoy the beauty of Kingston whilst raising vital funds for a good cause, supporting the work of KSS.
If you are interested, please contact the team at kab@kingstonassociationforblind.org or 0208 605 0060.
The LIME Disability Advisory Board, which is a national board, was attended by Acting Chair Ashley Pearce, Secretary Keegan Hillier, and Steering Group member for Healthwatch Kingston, Karen Dempster.
We heard about the design of new and improved bikes. These will be an improvement thanks to:
A lighter and smaller design, developed with women, older people, and disabled people in mind, making them easier to use.
Greater GPS precision – meaning LIME can identify when bikes are parked on pavements or in other obstructive spaces.
Clearer improvements to the app, to explain to cyclists where they can and can’t walk.
We asked about the steps being taken to improve cycling safety. They are, currently, as follows:
LIME do pop-ups with the police, educating cyclists on the dangers of unsafe cycling. They also assure us they ban thousands of offending cyclists a year, but know they need to do more.
LIME are able to track down LIME bike cyclists who are cycling on pavements or unsafely, even when the person reporting is visually impaired and cannot track down specific details. To do this, you need to note the date, time and location of the incident, and report this to LIME, who can then use their tracking to identify the offender.
Whilst LIME are yet to take a firm stance against ‘floating bus stops’, our contact Leanne shares her own struggles as a non-disabled cyclist with these set-ups. We will be sharing the National Federation of the Blind’s campaign with LIME for them to look into.
LIME let us know some details about their ‘share the joy’ fund, in collaboration with the National Cycling Campaign.
This provides grants to increase cycling in underrepresented groups – improving health and wellbeing, accessibility and inclusion, or skills and connectivity. They have supported groups like those who help disabled people learn to cycle and helping people cycle with trikes.
The fund opens twice a year. The next opening will be in September-October time. If you know of any groups that would be interested, please direct them to the LIME team for more detail.
LIME plans to put access at the forefront for Global Accessibility Awareness Day, which falls on the 21st May:
The app will display a banner for all users reminding them to keep accessibility in mind when cycling and leaving bicycles.
They will hold an in-person event in Hackney, one of the boroughs with the highest LIME bike usage. We have been invited to attend, so one of the Executive Committee will attend and report back.
Secretary Keegan Hillier attended the Inclusion London event, What next for Independent Living?, on Thursday 16th April. The event took place in person at the Coin Street Community Centre in Central London.
The focus of the day was on understanding the movement out of institutions and imprisonment, and ensuring that disabled people remain able to choose and have a say in their care and living situations.
As the photo shows, there was a wide range of people from across the capital, with some coming in from even further afield. We hope to invite some of the contacts made to future All Members Meetings to share how schemes from other areas can be applied to and improve accessibility and disability understanding in Kingston upon Thames.
Keegan’s Key Takeaways from the day were;
The Independent Living movement is surprisingly new – the movement began in the late 1960s in America.
The UK version was kicked off by John Evans, among other prisoners of institutions, leading up to Project 81, with the UN International Year of Disabled People, 1981, being their target for freedom.
In the 1980s, Centres for Independent Living (CILs) and Deaf and Disabled Peoples Organisations (DDPOs) created, and practiced, the concept of self-directed support.
This was a radical change at the time, challenging the medical and charitable models of disability in favour of the social model.
This was where the move to describing people as Personal Assistants (PAs) over Carers came in, as they assisted with living life.
It took until 2007 for the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People. This was ratified by the UK government in 2010.
Intersectionality was essential, especially in the early days of the Independent Living movement.
Panelists explained how the Black Panthers movement in America were very supportive of the ‘Crip Camps’ and other disability organisations and movements that went on in their country. The panelists also raised how women were particularly important in supporting the work of Independent Living activists, especially in its early days.
Reflections on what more needs to be done included;
Revisions to personal budgets, to allow for greater freedom to provide what disabled people need.
Tackling misconceptions of what ‘independence’ means, as what is viewed as independence to able-bodied people is often very different to what is true independence for disabled people.
Continuing to speak up when policy and systems are not working. This includes, but is not limited to, advocacy for greater funding into social care, or pushing for more accessible and adaptable affordable and social housing.
Inclusion London regularly runs campaigns, and events, working to improve accessibility and unite disabled people across London. You can see their current campaigns at the following link – https://www.inclusionlondon.org.uk/campaigns-and-policy/
The following is shared on behalf of Inclusion London:
The Fairfield Independent Review is looking into what the Met Police have done to regain public trust since the Casey Review found serious failings, including shocking ableism from the police.
The review wants to hear about your experiences of the Met Police, positive or negative.
Advertise the Kingston Disability Network (KDN) to external bodies through creation of advertisement graphics, social media posts, and attendance of public events
Promote a positive image of the Network, whilst keeping an eye out for disability or charity-related events in the Kingston Borough for members of the Executive Committee to attend. The External Comms manager does not have to be the one to attend said events, but is responsible for sharing these events with their Executive Committee peers, ensuring someone is able to attend or that the Secretary sends our apologies for the KDN’s absence.
The position of External Communications Manager requires someone with an understanding of graphic design, or a passion for learning. It would be well-suited to a university student looking to develop marketable skills, but we welcome applicants from any background. The External Communications Manager will have access to the KDN’s social media pages – currently Twitter/X and a Facebook group – and will use programs like Canva to create eye-catching graphics, keeping in mind the need to include Image Descriptions and dyslexia-friendly fonts. There may also be the need to create event posters and graphics on occasion.
This role requires someone with some familiarity with disability, whether through personal experience, past employment, or a keen interest in accessibility. The role also requires the role-holder to live or work within, or close to, the Royal Borough of Kingston-Upon-Thames, as the KDN is Kingston-focused.
The External Communications role offers fairly flexible working, with the only requirements being a once-monthly meeting (usually hybrid) and once-weekly check-ins with the rest of the Executive Committee. These check-ins can be through casual meet-up, email, or phone, depending on the needs and schedules of all involved. All other work can be completed whenever your schedule suits, and can be moulded to fit around a career, degree, or any other commitments. We expect this role should take no more than 2 hours for the average week, but may have periods requiring up to 5 hours a week, with notice.
As this role is voluntary, we are unable to pay for any costs or charges the applicant may encounter. However, we do not expect the applicant to pay out of pocket for any premium services, and if these should be required, the KDN will cover costs.
Those interested in the position should submit a CV and a short text, no more than 500 words, detailing your experience or interest in working as an External Communications officer or for a disability organisation. This can be sent to info@kdn.org.uk. Please also submit any questions to this address, as we are happy to speak to interested applicants.
Those who are successful in their submissions will be invited to a short, semi-informal interview with the Vice-Chair and Secretary, to discuss suitability for the role and answer any questions you may have.
The following is shared on behalf of Kingston Association for the Blind
KAB 2026 Annual General Meeting
Notice is hereby given that the 2026 KAB Annual General Meeting will be held at the Kingston Quaker Center on Thursday, 28th May 2026 at 11am.
The meeting will be followed by a free lunch and a chance to catch up with friends, chat, and mingle in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
Important Information: Official AGM materials, including your invitation and proxy form, will be sent out by email and post during the week commencing Monday, 13th April 2026. Please keep an eye on your inbox or letterbox. The AGM information will also be available on our website.
If you are unable to attend, we kindly ask that you complete and return the proxy form, as this helps us reach the quorum needed for the meeting to go ahead. Alternatively, you can phone the office. (Note for KDN members – if you are not signed up to KAB emails, you will need to contact them directly to receive these)
Special Guest Speakers:
We are delighted to welcome two guest speakers to this year’s AGM:
George Phillips, Trustee and Chess Champion George is passionate about bringing chess to visually impaired people. He will speak about how the game can be made accessible to everyone and explain how visually impaired players enjoy and play chess through a range of adaptations. George’s story, along with his commitment to making chess more inclusive, is truly inspiring.
Sanja Djeric Kane, CEO, Kingston Voluntary Action (KVA) Sanja will share an overview of KVA’s work and outline the ways in which our members may be able to benefit from their services. We are very pleased to have Sanja join us at this year’s AGM.
We hope you will join us for what promises to be an informative, enjoyable, and inspiring event.
Manage the finances of the Kingston Disability Network (KDN)
Work alongside the Executive Committee and Steering Group to apply for charitable grants and community group funding
The position of treasurer requires someone who is comfortable with numbers and finances. Prior treasurer experience is not required, but if you lack the current experience, we ask for a proactive passion for learning. The treasurer will have access to the KDN’s banking, alongside the Vice-Chair and Secretary, and will offer sensible budgeting ideas for events, activities, and running costs. The Treasurer will create spreadsheets covering the KDN’s regular costs, ongoing fees, and streams of income, offering all relevant bodies an understanding of the ins and outs of the KDN’s financial status.
This role requests someone with some familiarity with disability, whether through personal experience, past employment, or a keen interest in accessibility. The role also requires the role-holder to live within, or close to, the Royal Borough of Kingston-Upon-Thames, as the KDN is Kingston-focused.
The Treasurer role offers fairly flexible working, with the only requirements being a once-monthly meeting (usually hybrid) and once-weekly check-ins with the rest of the Executive Committee. These check-ins can be through casual meet-up, email, or phone, depending on the needs and schedules of all involved. All other work can be completed whenever your schedule suits, and can be moulded to fit around a career, degree, or any other commitments, and is expected to be no more than a few hours a week, often less.
As this role is voluntary, we are unable to pay for any costs or charges the applicant may encounter. However, we do not expect the successful applicant to pay for any applications necessary for the treasurer role, and covering the cost of these can be discussed should any come up.
Those interested in the position should submit a CV and a short text, no more than 500 words, detailing your experience or interest in working as a treasurer or for a disability organisation. This can be sent to info@kdn.org.uk. Please also submit any questions to this address, as we are happy to speak to interested applicants.
Those who are successful in their submissions will be invited to a short, semi-informal interview with the Vice-Chair and Secretary, to discuss suitability for the role and answer any questions you may have.
We are proud to announce that the KDN will be holding its first All Members Meeting (AMM) since last year’s transition in leadership.
Please join us at the New Malden Methodist Church from 11:30-1:30PM on Wednesday 25th March. The full address is 49 High Street, New Malden, KT3 4BY.
The venue is wheelchair accessible and can be accessed by the K1 or 213 bus routes, or by train at the New Malden station. Should you require assistance from your stop to the venue, please email us at info@kdn.org.uk and we will arrange for someone to meet you.
If you have not yet signed up via our sign up form, please do so before you arrive to the meeting, so we can circulate the meeting notes and any further follow-up.
The below has been shared with us by Steering Group member Roy Smith. If you attend these sessions, we would love to hear what you think of them!
As we continue to celebrate International Women’s Day, the Fulham FC Foundation is delighted to offer FREE Girls & Women’s Pan DisAbility Football sessions for the remainder of this month.
These sessions take place every Saturday during term time at the Fulham FC Training Ground, Morspur Park, KT3 6PT and are open to girls and women with any form of physical, learning, or sensory disability, or special educational need. The sessions provide a fun, inclusive, and supportive environment where participants can:
Develop football skills
Build confidence
Stay active
Make new friends
Our Girls & Women’s sessions are designed as an additional opportunity to play, so participants do not need to stop attending any current sessions. They provide extra football in a female-focused inclusive environment, giving players even more opportunities to enjoy the game.
Booking a place Places can be booked via the following link:
Additional International Women’s Day Offer Female players who would like to try our mixed Pan DisAbility sessions can enjoy 25% off any of our DisAbility programmes by using the code IWDD25 when booking.
We would greatly appreciate it if you could share this information with your students, service users, families, or mailing lists to help us reach as many girls and women as possible. For further information about our sessions, please contact: disability@fulhamfc.com.
The RBK Safety Committee are running a Focus Group for KDN members to voice their feedback, comments and concerns, about community safety in relation to disability. This focus group will take place in The Guildhall, on the 19th of February, from 11AM-12:30PM.
The Safety Committee are eager to hear from members of the KDN what real experiences of disabled people, and those who work with disabled people, are like. We find many members feel misunderstood or ignored when it comes to community safety, so we hope that this provides a space for members to explain concerns directly to the teams creating Community Safety plans.
If you would like to attend, please contact us at info@kdn.org.uk. Registering interest is not mandatory to attend, but the RBK team would like a rough idea of numbers.
The January 2026 Transport Liaison Committee Meeting was attended by various representatives of stakeholders and service providers, including the Council, TfL, and disability groups like ourselves and Involve. The KDN was represented by Acting Chair Ashley Pearce and Secretary Keegan Hillier.
We found there were some brilliant positives discussed, but there were, as always, some areas we had to advocate for improvement or disability engagement in.
To end on a positive note, we’ll first cover the areas where we raised concerns. These were:
– The Cromwell Road Bus Station; still no radar key for the hard to find accessible bathroom. Kingston Association for the Blind were able to take a site visit with TfL representatives to express member concerns, including the difficult to access bathroom and the inconsistent signage. Unfortunately, TfL maintain the stance that, since there should be staff on site between 6:30AM to 9:30PM, they believe there is no need for a radar key. We have raised that staff are often not available, and TfL say they will continue to monitor the situation.
– There are plans to remove an important bus stop due to the implementation of a cycle lane. Waters Road Stop B is currently scheduled for closure due to the new cycle lane, but we have raised the issue within the Transport Liaison Group. Cllr Nardelli has asked us for more information on the situation, which we have provided.
– Berrylands station is still waiting on funds being made available to provide a step-free station. Whilst this is a frustrating situation to be in, our SWR contacts assure us that when they are next able to bid for funding they will advocate for funds to make the station accessible.
– Cycle lanes are still causing concerns for disabled members of the Kingston community. Kingston Association for the Blind raised the cycle lane by the Rotunda as a prime example, explaining that a lack of distinction between cycle lane and pavement, alongside the large crowds that take up most of the pavement space by Circuit and Bonnie Rogues, can make it unsafe for people, especially those with visual impairments, to use that strip of pavement.
The positives from the Transport Liaison Committee Meeting were abundant, however. The highlights were the following:
– Funding for waiting rooms in New Malden, Tolworth, and Malden Manor train stations has been acquired. This will give people a safe and warm space to wait for trains, with some shelter from their noise. There is hopes the first of these waiting rooms will be installed in February.
– We asked for Norbiton station, another highly used station, to be considered for accessible transformation once Berrylands has received their accessible upgrades. The station is now on the radar of SWR.
– Hatching at the intersection of Wheatfield Way and Fairfield North, which has rubbed away in recent years, is being reviewed for repainting. As many of us have experienced, the poor visibility of this no stopping box has lead to drivers pulling into it at lights, blocking the crossing and making it difficult for pedestrians to cross. We hope the review will be quick!
– Following concerns raised at a previous meeting, the taxi cab representatives have confirmed a crackdown on abuse of taxi ranks. This means it will be easier for taxi drivers to collect and drop off passengers around town.
– We are awaiting the details of contact forms to notify bike rental companies of obstructively parked / dumped bikes. Once reported, the companies have to remove the obstruction within 2 hours during the 9-5 working week. We will circulate the information once we receive it, giving people a direct method to tackle the issue of dumped e-bikes.
– Continuing on the theme of e-bikes, Lime have invited the KDN to their nationwide Disability Advisory Board. Following our first meeting go learn more about what this entails, we will ask members for their key hopes from this board, which we will advocate for.
– Finally, there will be new crossings implemented in and near the Coombe area. This includes one outside Coombe Girls School, but also a crossing by Kingston Hospital, which will make attending hospital appointments far safer. We have asked for disability groups to be involved in site visits, to ensure that the crossings give enough time for pedestrians to cross.
We will continue to attend the RBK Transport Liaison Committees and represent disabled people and the importance of accessibility. If you have concerns you would like us to raise at one of these meetings, please contact us at info@kdn.org.uk to discuss.
Thank you to everyone who came along to our event on December 3rd, the International Day of Disability. At our event, we heard speeches from KDN Executive Leadership, Ashley and Keegan, alongside Steering Group members Roy, Scott and Karen. Councillor Anita Schaper also offered her speech, offering her personal connections to disability activism and committing the Council to working with the KDN as we grow.
RBK’s Community Safety Officer, Lieneke Eleveld, has shared with us some excellent resources regarding hate crime, including some targeted towards disabled people. We are working on getting these files uploaded onto our website, but if you’d like to take a look into these in the meantime, please contact us and we can share physical copies.
As we look to the future, we took on your feedback and will use it to improve accessibility and inclusion for our upcoming meetings, starting 2026. Keep an eye out for more!
To celebrate Black History Month with Black Disabled Authors Notable black disabled poets include: Audre Lorde, known for her legal blindness and experiences with cancer, Leroy F. Moore Jr., a physical disability advocate and founder of Krip-Hop Nation, and Ashanti Anderson, a queer, disabled poet whose debut collection is Black Under. Other significant voices are: Alayna Powell, who explores disability within a religious context, and Jasmine “Queen Jasmeen” Schlafke, a slam poet and disability justice advocate.
For more information about this event please contact:- Hook & Chessington Library, 13 Hook Rd, Hook, Chessington KT9 1EJ. Email info@kdn.org.uk or Phone 020 8547 5006.
The Cromwell Road Bus Station; still no radar key for the hard to find accessible bathroom. Kingston Association for the Blind were able to take a site visit with TfL representatives to express member concerns, including the difficult to access bathroom and the inconsistent signage. Unfortunately, TfL maintain the stance that, since there should be staff on site between 6:30AM to 9:30PM, they believe there is no need for a radar key. We have raised that staff are often not available, and TfL say they will continue to monitor the situation.
There are plans to remove an important bus stop due to the implementation of a cycle lane. Waters Road Stop B is currently scheduled for closure due to the new cycle lane, but we have raised the issue within the Transport Liaison Group. Cllr Nardelli has asked us for more information on the situation, which we have provided.
Berrylands station is still waiting on funds being made available to provide a step-free station. Whilst this is a frustrating situation to be in, our SWR contacts assure us that when they are next able to bid for funding they will advocate for funds to make the station accessible.
Cycle lanes are still causing concerns for disabled members of the Kingston community. Kingston Association for the Blind raised the cycle lane by the Rotunda as a prime example, explaining that a lack of distinction between cycle lane and pavement, alongside the large crowds that take up most of the pavement space by Circuit and Bonnie Rogues, can make it unsafe for people, especially those with visual impairments, to use that strip of pavement.
Funding for waiting rooms in New Malden, Tolworth, and Malden Manor train stations has been acquired. This will give people a safe and warm space to wait for trains, with some shelter from their noise. There is hopes the first of these waiting rooms will be installed in February.
We asked for Norbiton station, another highly used station, to be considered for accessible transformation once Berrylands has received their accessible upgrades. The station is now on the radar of SWR.
Hatching at the intersection of Wheatfield Way and Fairfield North, which has rubbed away in recent years, is being reviewed for repainting. As many of us have experienced, the poor visibility of this no stopping box has lead to drivers pulling into it at lights, blocking the crossing and making it difficult for pedestrians to cross. We hope the review will be quick!
Following concerns raised at a previous meeting, the taxi cab representatives have confirmed a crackdown on abuse of taxi ranks. This means it will be easier for taxi drivers to collect and drop off passengers around town.
Continuing on the theme of e-bikes, Lime have invited the KDN to their nationwide Disability Advisory Board. Following our first meeting go learn more about what this entails, we will ask members for their key hopes from this board, which we will advocate for.
Finally, there will be new crossings implemented in and near the Coombe area. This includes one outside Coombe Girls School, but also a crossing by Kingston Hospital, which will make attending hospital appointments far safer. We have asked for disability groups to be involved in site visits, to ensure that the crossings give enough time for pedestrians to cross.