to wonder why disabled parking should be free

[Lilaclion]

My local council is considering making blue badge holders pay to park which has caused a certain amount of controversy, but personally I don't see why they shouldn't pay to park just like everybody else? The blue badge parking system is there to ensure an ease of access, it has nothing to do with finances.

Exactly Fiendish! Why would you want to spend tax payers money on expensive means testing just to prove some wierd point

When I go into our local city centre, it costs about £3 an hour to park. Because of this I park about a mile away in a residential area for free, and then walk in.

When my disabled mother has to go into the city centre it takes her HOURS to go round a few shops. If it wasn't for the free disabled parking, she would need to use the most expensive multi-storey (for proximity to shops) which could easily set her back a tenner+. Basically she would never go to the shops.

OP - stop worrying about all the lucky loaded disabled people and get a life!

"if there is a parking charge it should be for everyone so we are all, you know, equal"

Gosh, I bet many disabled people would like to be equally mobile, independent etc.

Big Society, my arse. Yet again.

Lovely post OP. Just to be clear, you are only addressing physical disabilities with this post. Many, many people suffer with debilating mental and neurological issues but because they can walk they don't get blue badges. Never mind that they may be unable to hold down a job, that the sheer sensory overload of walking or going on a bus may cause them to become virtually housebound, at least they're not taking up a free parking space, eh?

Mind you, they're probably getting thousands on benefits for kidding on to be depressed, eh?

Why am I a twat for asking about something that will affect the blue badge holders in my local area and could also affect other blue badge holders should their local councils decide to do the same.

I accept that the majority feel I am unreasonable in my opinion, it's clearly a very emotional matter. At no point have I said that disabled people shouldn't have their own dedicated spaces, or do I wish an extra hardships on anyone, so to want to punch me in the mouth is a bit over the top!

Oh bugger, got so bloody cross reading this that I burnt me bloody caviar (aka oven chips) and spilt me flaming bolinger (aka cuppa tea)
So now I'm even more bloody cross!

BTW OP what I've paid for in food alone this week for my SLD boys will probably pay your parking charges for a year.
Hope that makes you feel better!

really how can anyone really be bothered that someone is is less mobile, will often be in pain and their life in general is harder, impossible or very hard for many to use public transport gets something as insignificant as parking for free, why would this annoy anyone

i try but at times i really do not understand some people

Do you know what? I don't really care whether the disabled person has millions in the bank. They are disabled, which means that those of us who are able-bodied should be,
a)Thankful it's not us
b)Realising that there is a lot to be said sometimes for just helping to make someones life a little easier.

There is so much else to be getting cross about rather than the fact that the person in the wheelchair or the mother of the autistic child hasn't paid the £1 you've paid to park that day.

you made points you don't understand, and you are complaining that disabled people get free parking. You begrudge people who are disabled to have free parking.
Sodding parking, really? This is something you can find room to begrudge? Yes, you're a twat.

Public transport is not accessible for many disabled people. All too often the vehicles aren't accessible,in the case of train stations the platforms may not be accessible,and even when they are there's often some idiot sitting in the accessible space/seat who refuses to give up their seat for someone who does need it,and it's unlikely that they'll receive any assistance from the driver.

Also many people with disabilities do not feel safe on public transport having been the victim of taunts,threats and physical abuse all too often. Now this can happen to those without disabilities too,but those with are more likely to be the victim of such abuse than those without.

The blue badge spaces and free parking that so many seem to resent are not privileges but necessary tools to try to give people with disabilities the same freedom,access and opportunities that those who don't have disabilities have.

As for means testing it's expensive to implement and all the money in the world still won't stop someone with a disability experiencing the barriers and inequalities that other less wealthy people with disabilities face every day.

LetThereBeRock does indeed rock. What she said.

Really you object to anyone disabled having occasional free parking just in case someone who has a blue badge may have more money than you?

My disabled retired mother doesn't park if she has to pay parking (unless its a minimal cost) because she can't afford it. So she doesn;t go whereever that place is unlike me who has good strng legs and can park further in free parking and walk.

If it were means tested she would still get free parking but I'm fairly certain that the cost of applying means testing would be many multiple times more than the value she uses in free parking at the moment (which isn't a loss to the council as if she had to pay she wouldn't park there at all).

but it would make you feel better I guess.

Has it occured to you that the loss in revenue to the council is minimal in exchange for quite a nice gesture from them for people whose lives (regardless of wealth) are quite a bit trickier than yours is?

And as for those with 'huge' payouts they're in a minority and the money they are given not only reflects the impact the disability they've acquired will have on their life but also the staggering cost of the assistants,carers,therapies,specialists,equipment and drugs that they'll need to have any quality of life,and many of which will not be available via the NHS or if they are will be provided in limited quantities and time.

Equipment which has been specially adapted costs many times more than the standard version. Being disabled is a very costly business.

Because they have to park, you can choose to walk. Its a perk of working legs and body. I'd choose it over a blue badge anyday

Is this a troll can you really not figure it for yourself?

Don'teatyourtea: parking at our hospital is £5 an hour. With waiting our appointments can easily run into a third hour, and if you have to do that twice a week....

It's the ongoing alwaysnesss of disability. If you have a temporary accident / illness and life gets a bit more complicated or expensive for a while, that can hit you badly enough, but we all expect bad times and good times. But if you spend your whole life in and out of appointments and each one costs £15 in parking it can devastate your family budget. And the parking will be just ine small part of it.

I'll swap the 12yrs of being in screaming agony, days when I've been in so pain that I've had to give my painkillers to somebody else to prevent myself from overdosing, days when I couldn't pick up and comfort my crying child, when I could get through a day without feeling like i had climbed a mountain with a 10 ton weight across my shoulders, when I didn't have to take medications that could give me cancer or lethal infection that could kill me so that I can have some quality of life.... I'll swap all of this with anybody who wants the 'benefits' of being disabled!

I see someone has mentioned hospital carparks,no I don't believe that people with disabilities should be charged to use them. As a result of their disability they're likely to be very regular visitors to the various clinics,units and specialists there and therefore charging them to use the parking there is effectively penalising them for having a disability.

They should not have to think twice about whether they can afford to get the necessary treatments to relieve their pain,improve their mobility and minimise the impact of their conditions because of parking charges.

I haven't read the rest of the thread but it seems obvious to me that disabled people may need to use their transport as a necessity for getting about and therefore don't 'choose' to use car parks.

Okay, I hadn't considered the extra time it could take to go about your business with limited mobility, so can see the unfairness of having to pay the same as others, I can also see that the cost of means testing such a scheme would not be viable, so accept that the only fair solution is to have free parking for all blue badge holders. I also sincerely regret any upset to posters who's lives are made so difficult due to disability and wish them only good things in the future.

Not all areas offer free parking for Blue Badge holders. Our local hospital doesn't. We can be there for hours for various appointments and sometimes the appointments fall within the same week or two.

Last month we were there three times in two weeks and it cost me about 12 pounds to park. I'm quite glad DD2 hasn't had to go to A&E or be admitted really as the parking would cripple us.

Oh, and I can't work full time as DD2 needs me to care for her. But because I work part time I can no longer claim Carers Allowance. We must be loaded though because DH works and we get DLA for DD2. Hang on, that pays for all her stuff (68 pounds for her last pair of boots) as well as our bills (incontinent daughter with leaky nappies means washing and drying bedding most days). Oh and the PCT will only give us 3 nappies a day so we have to buy any extras - she's too big for off-the-shelf ones so I have to buy them online (44 pounds for the last delivery).

But hey, you begrudge me getting an hour or two free parking in my local town centre (that I visit so rarely because going shopping with a disabled child is such a major effort I don't tend to bother. Thank god for internet shopping and delivery).

Glad all you have to get your knickers in a knot about is being snarky that someone gets something you don't.

Oh and whoever posted regarding compensation awards - do you realise that you don't usually get given a cheque for hundreds of thousands of pounds don't you? It gets held in trust and you usually have to make applications via the legal team to use any of the money.

Mare11bp Wed 10-Aug-11 20:22:29

What bubbles said. If their inability to work is disability related, then subject to means testing they should qualify for free parking.

Otherwise, they should not. There are many disabled high earners and I don't see why they shouldn't contribute.

Contribute to what exactly?
Blue badge holders only receive free parking on public roads. Most private car parks (NCP etc) still charge.

Having a blue badge alone does not mean you avoid paying road tax, tax on petrol, toll charges...everything else.
It simply means that you get to park in wider bays and that you may be very very lucky and find a space in a "free" car park.

if you really believe their £2 for the metre would change anything, ever, you really as ignorant as you sound

Re hospital carparks, I don't actually think people who have an ongoing illness which necessitates regular trips to the hospital should need to pay either. I once read a shocking story of a woman undergoing chemo who had to park 3/4 of a mile away and walk to her appointment because she simply couldn't afford the car parking fees. How can that be acceptable?

Well thank you Lilac, that's very gracious of you to now understand and apologise.
Apology accepted (from me anyway!)

Perhaps you could use this new found knowledge to educate others with similar opinions to what yours was previously.