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Original poster

Disabled parking angst

114 replies

ProbablyNotMad · 08/08/2023 12:04

My aunt is disabled and has a blue badge. The council recently put a disabled space on the road in front of her house. Lame drawing attached as per rules. Aunt was really pleased as parking can be busy and she often has to park a few houses down, which is tiring when she has shopping to unload. Unfortunately, Aunt's neighbour is also disabled and he is telling her that she is not allowed to use the disabled space. He had requested it from the council and it is for him to use not her. She is continuing to use it when she needs to but the neighbour is leaving horrible notes on her car and shouts at her when he sees her. Yesterday, someone further up the road had a disabled visitor who parked in the disabled space. They got a nasty note too.

I have spoken to the council and they have said that anyone with a blue badge can use the space and they won't create another disabled space on that road.

I think aunt should call the police and report him for harassment but she is reluctant to do this as she doesn't want to bother the police and this might make the neighbour angrier.

What would you do? Would we be unreasonable to call the police over this?

Disabled parking angst
OP posts:
TakenRoot · 09/08/2023 10:20

I can understand the neighbour’s frustration as it sounds as if he did all the hard work of getting the council to make a disabled bay and now it is not available to him.

Our council provides more than one bay in a street if there is a need. Has your aunt pushed through al the channels? Got her local councillors involved?

However, Looking at your diagram, is that the disabled neighbour who has a dropped kerb and a drive?

Jitterybugs · 09/08/2023 09:44

I applied for a disabled parking space for a severely disabled relative. The job was approved and carried out by the council but the confirmation letter clearly stated the space was not allocated to the address and anyone with a valid blue badge was entitled to park in it. This did happen occasionally and I wouldn’t dream of putting a note on their windscreen.

But I did put a note on the windscreen of cheeky fuckers who parked there without a blue badge and politely pointed out the space was for blue badge holders only.

SecretVictoria · 09/08/2023 09:34

Mummyoflittledragon · 08/08/2023 20:35

From your updates, it sounds as if the space was created for your aunt. Please contact a PCSO so they can go round and see the man with the appropriate legislation and explain it was put there after her application, not his.

Disabled/BB spaces aren’t put there for one person. Anyone with a BB can park there. I’ve no idea what “legislation” you’re referring to as it doesn’t exist.

OldTinHat · 09/08/2023 09:31

Sorry! Don't know why that posted twice!

OldTinHat · 09/08/2023 09:26

At the end of the day, if the bay is marked in white, then it's fair game, and anyone can park in it, BB holder or not. That's the law.

My neighbour a few doors up also has a BB and marked bay and we have an unspoken agreement that if we're both out, return to find 'our' bay taken but the other's is free, we won't park in each other's out of courtesy. But every time the bays are taken, they are by non BB holders. Every single time.

I came back yesterday afternoon after one of several weekly medical appointments to find a huge 4x4 with no BB outside. It's still there now. I'm back in the public car park three roads away with the pleasure of paying £250 for a permit there.

It's infuriating, anxiety inducing and can cause irrational rage, but it doesn't matter who requested it. It's a courtesy bay that can be used by any Tom, Dick or Harry. Mine is mostly used by Dicks.

Flopsythebunny · 09/08/2023 09:26

FloweryName · 08/08/2023 20:08

He applied for the space because he needed it. Morally, he deserves priority.

No council in the country will put a blue badge space on the road for someone who has a driveway so it isn't the neighbour's space.

OldTinHat · 09/08/2023 09:08

At the end of the day, if the bay is marked in white, then it's fair game, and anyone can park in it, BB holder or not. That's the law.

My neighbour a few doors up also has a BB and marked bay and we have an unspoken agreement that if we're both out, return to find 'our' bay taken but the other's is free, we won't park in each other's out of courtesy. But every time the bays are taken, they are by non BB holders. Every single time.

I came back yesterday afternoon after one of several weekly medical appointments to find a huge 4x4 with no BB outside. It's still there now. I'm back in the public car park three roads away with the pleasure of paying £250 for a permit there.

It's infuriating, anxiety inducing and can cause irrational rage, but it doesn't matter who requested it. It's a courtesy bay that can be used by any Tom, Dick or Harry. Mine is mostly used by Dicks.

Howlingmoor · 09/08/2023 08:42

AlfietheSchnauzer · 09/08/2023 05:55

@ProbablyNotMad So a disabled resident went to the effort of applying for a disabled space and your aunt decided to help herself to it and now she's complaining that he's annoyed? Wow

CF

The aunt is disabled. She applied for a space. A space was put directly outside her house.

A neighbour across the road is disabled. He also applied for a space. He has a drive with a dropped curb on his property. The disabled bay was not put outside his house.

He is rude and aggressive towards anyone else using the space, even though he only uses it when he has visitors- and you honestly think that the aunt is in the wrong?!

Howlingmoor · 09/08/2023 08:34

boboshmobo · 09/08/2023 07:00

I think your aunt is a bit of a cheeky fucker tbh ..

I know he doesn't have rights over it but if they put it there for him he would have had to fight to get that and then she comes along and uses it

Surely you can see his point ??

I have a disabled mum , son and bil so I totally get things are tricky . If she has a front garden surely she should pay for a drop curb then she can do what she likes

They didn’t put it there for him- they put it there for disabled people. Aunt has a blue badge, she can park there as can anyone else with a blue badge.

My directly opposite neighbour has a disabled space outside his house- he made a particular effort to come and tell me that I could also use it because we can’t both have one and we both need it. Normal pleasant behaviour. I don’t use it because parking isn’t a massive issue here and he is elderly as well as disabled and doesn’t have a carer to help him.

Howlingmoor · 09/08/2023 08:30

skyeisthelimit · 08/08/2023 12:15

I can see why he is annoyed if he asked for it and how somebody else is parking there, but legally he can't stop them.

I have a blue badge, and I would let him park there if he was the one who requested the space. Your aunt could have requested one first.

This is all well and good, except aunt and angry bloke can’t both have a disabled space. So by technically requesting one first he is stopping her from ever having one even if her need is equal to or greater than his.

GrumpyPanda · 09/08/2023 08:04

AlfietheSchnauzer · 09/08/2023 05:55

@ProbablyNotMad So a disabled resident went to the effort of applying for a disabled space and your aunt decided to help herself to it and now she's complaining that he's annoyed? Wow

CF

RTFT.

towriteyoumustlive · 09/08/2023 07:59

As they BOTH applied for a space and the neighbour has his own driveway then it is likely that it was your aunts application that got the space installed and not the neighbour who doesn't need the space.

But this is irrelevant as anyone with a blue badge can use it. If he is aggressive then report to the police.

Blackbyrd · 09/08/2023 07:04

Why are people so dumb on here sometimes? The neighbour has his own off road parking, there is no way that a council will also then allocate him a disabled parking spot on a public highway. It is not a question of anyone being a "cheeky fucker"! The level of comprehension is most alarming

boboshmobo · 09/08/2023 07:00

I think your aunt is a bit of a cheeky fucker tbh ..

I know he doesn't have rights over it but if they put it there for him he would have had to fight to get that and then she comes along and uses it

Surely you can see his point ??

I have a disabled mum , son and bil so I totally get things are tricky . If she has a front garden surely she should pay for a drop curb then she can do what she likes

AutumnCrow · 09/08/2023 06:01

As many posters keep saying:

Dropped kerb and driveway = not eligible for disabled parking bay.

It’s in the OP’s diagram, literally in the OP.

AlfietheSchnauzer · 09/08/2023 05:55

@ProbablyNotMad So a disabled resident went to the effort of applying for a disabled space and your aunt decided to help herself to it and now she's complaining that he's annoyed? Wow

CF

Isittimeformynapyet · 09/08/2023 01:55

ItsNotRocketSalad · 08/08/2023 20:33

The council would not have put in a bay at his request if he had off-street parking. I think the OP might have changed the story to get more favourable replies for her aunt.

Show quote history

Look at the diagram, posted at the start of this thread. There is the dropped kerb and driveway on the neighbour's property clear as day.

I hope we can agree that you were categorically wrong in your post.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 09/08/2023 01:27

Dotjones · 08/08/2023 12:06

Yes she should report him, it's only a matter of time before he escalates things and actually damages the vehicle. She should get a CCTV camera pointed at the spot to record when she's parked there so there is evidence when this happens.

That's a bit of a jump from leaning a note to damaging the vehicle! I leave notes ,I don't damage other people's cars.

Anyone can park in a space but I can see why he's upset about it.

NewName122 · 09/08/2023 01:23

He may have requested it but the council would have told him it is not his designated space and can be used by anyone with a blue badge. So yes you should report his crazy behaviour.

BungleandGeorge · 08/08/2023 21:15

It’s a public road, the space is for any disabled person. It’s not for his convenience so
thatbhis guests can park more easily. And it’s in front of your aunt’s property so by putting it there they’ve effectively taken her old space away. Bonkers that a disabled person should feel they have to move so
that it can be kept free for another disabled person (or rather the convenience of his guests)

CaroleSinger · 08/08/2023 21:04

Surely the sensible thing is to get the council to tell him what they told you. That anyone with a badge can use it not just him?

FixTheBone · 08/08/2023 21:00

The route to madness lies within residential disabled spaces.

Our neighbour got one, on a very tight road of terraced houses. We had a blue badge for my sister, paraplegic from spina bifida with a huge electric wheelchair, we occasionally used the space to unload if we couldn't park near our house, and would vacate the space even if it meant parking on another street.

That never stopped the neighbour running out red faced and ranting....

Anyway, we moved, but went back visiting a few years later - about a third of the street is now disabled spaces, and because they're bigger, fewer cars can park...

Humans are irrationally weird sometimes.

SomethingNastyInTheBallPool · 08/08/2023 20:43

Just an aside, we have a driveway and a dedicated disabled bay, because our drive is narrow and steep. So it’s not completely impossible that the neighbour was granted a bay.

SD1978 · 08/08/2023 20:36

Seems very odd the council out in a blue badge spot for a man who has a driveway to park on! Maybe it was due to both requests? He has a drive way, she doesn't from the diagram. I'd use the spot without thinking about it- as he is choosing to park on the road when he doesn't need to, unless the drive is so narrow he can't get out of the car. If he's using it as convenient 'extra' parking for guests, then that's the CF Not your Aunt!

Mummyoflittledragon · 08/08/2023 20:35

From your updates, it sounds as if the space was created for your aunt. Please contact a PCSO so they can go round and see the man with the appropriate legislation and explain it was put there after her application, not his.