COUNTRYSIDE campaigner Colin Speakman pays tribute to fellow conservationist, Robert Starling who died late last year, and looks at how access to rural areas for disabled people could be improved.

Few people living in Settle or Giggleswick didn’t know Robert Starling, passionate conservationist and campaigner for nature, who died suddenly and unexpectedly in November. Robert, who lived in Giggleswick, was one of those people who didn’t just care about the environment, but became actively involved in several organisations working to protect the natural world and our cultural heritage. He was, for an amazing 28 years, secretary of Craven Conservation Group, and was actively involved with North Craven Heritage Trust. He was also a member of the Craven branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), Plantlife, the Yorkshire Dales Society, and was a keen walker taking part and belonging to Craven Strollers.

Robert was the kind of person who didn’t seek glory or coverage in the newspapers. He was one of those quiet but loyal individuals who turn up to meetings in almost any weather, who serve on committees, help with work parties, and give constant support to others. Without people like Robert, a regular and active supporter of so many important causes, much of the excellent work achieved by NGOs and the voluntary sector in Craven would not be possible.

Robert’s other passion was public transport. He was a member of Friends of Settle Carlisle Line (FoSCL)and was on the committee of the Lancaster and Skipton Rail Users Group (LASRUG). He was also a founder member of the Friends of DalesBus and helped with the campaign to replace the much-mourned Pennine bus service between Settle and Skipton with what is now the very successful Kirkby Lonsdale Craven Connect through 580/581 bus service, which now links Skipton, Settle, Ingleton and Kirkby Lonsdale.

Robert had a special reason for wanting to keep trains and buses operating to and from Settle. Sadly, he suffered from epilepsy, a serious condition which without warning can cause alarming and distressing fits, which though they do not usually last long, can be very frightening for the person concerned and other people who are with them. This made it quite impossible for him to drive or have a driving licence. Unless he could walk there, or get there on a bus or train, he just didn’t travel. At times, friends were able to offer him lifts, but Robert was also a fiercely independent person who didn’t like to rely on the goodwill of others. Bus and rail timetables were as important to him as road maps or Satnavs are to motorists.

But Robert’s disability, though far from uncommon, is not the only one which reduces the ability to drive. There are many medical conditions, permanent or temporary, which can prevent people from driving, even though in other ways they may appear perfectly strong and fit. Many people have eyesight problems which make driving, especially at night, difficult or even risky. As people get older, reactions get slower and eyesight can begin to fail. There have been serious accidents with elderly drivers hitting pedestrians and other vehicles through not being able fully see hazards ahead. But for many elderly people, a car is a lifeline without which they would be seriously isolated, especially those living in villages in rural areas like the upper Dales where public transport if it exists at all is sparse. More rigorous eye tests for over-70s could result in many drivers in their 80s - and even 90s - losing their licence.

Society, quite rightly, is now far more aware of the needs of disabled people in the countryside. The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust have developed several excellent projects to facilitate wheelchair access in the heart of the Dales – the path between Burnsall and Loup Scar on the Dales Way is one example, as is the route between Malham village and Cove. On many popular lowland and riverside paths, stiles, which are a severe barrier to many people, especially older people with muscular conditions or arthritic joints, are being replaced with pedestrian gates which makes enjoyment of these routes possible for more people. Another development is the provision of all terrain “Trampers” - basically ruggedly designed powered wheelchairs which can traverse quite rough tracks

Yet at the same time, the plight of those who for whatever reason, can’t drive to the Dales, is largely ignored. Trampers and wheelchair routes are fine, but only for users who have access to their own vehicle to reach the start of such routes. If you are too young to have a driving licence or whether, like Robert, through disability or advancing years you can no longer drive, or simply can’t afford a car or don’t choose to drive, then you lose access to the countryside every bit as completely as if paths are blocked by barbed wire or fenced off moorland.

DalesBus, which operates a Sunday and Bank Holiday network of low floor buses to and within the Yorkshire Dales, that also carry wheelchair space, faces a financial crisis for 2018. Sadly, decision-takers in most of the organisations that could support DalesBus, including the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, take a narrow view of access to the countryside and assume that as most people drive there, bus users are unimportant.

Robert Starling was, in his quiet way, also a great campaigner for local bus services in the Dales, including both weekday and Sunday DalesBus services. Would it not be appropriate if, in his memory, policies and funding priorities could change, to ensure other people like Robert could continue to enjoy equal opportunity to access the countryside he so loved?