To think that Waverley Council ^shouldn't^ be charging

[CardyMow]

Blue Badge holders to use a disabled parking space??!! Apparently they will get a concession of getting one hour extra for their money. Are Waverley council Tory by any chance??!! AIBU to think that this is well out of order?

I'm not attacking the perceived benefits of being disabled. I can't think of any benefits in life to being disabled.

I am questioning whether free parking for all blue badge holders is a necessity, and whether Waverley Council are complete bastards, or haven't thought the system through well enough.

You're defensive understandably. I'm defensive too because I am not a heartless cow who thinks people with disabilities live the life of Riley, yet I do think that there are some things that aren't necessarily a requirement or needed.

Is there a way to make the system fair for all? Tailored to the individual? Their own NEEDS?

I am in no way disabled person bashing!

Quite, Kladdkaka. And I didn't intend for this thread to turn into a bunfight, I was just at this council's decision. I have things to attend to in \rl for now, will be back later to see how the discussion pans out.

Still wondering if Waverley Council is Tory-run?

you seem slightly obsessed with this point. Why not just google it and satisfy yourself,

or are you trying to score political points

cynical? moi?

Ah, Now I see the point, faithless!

Nah, not politically obsessed, or trying to gain 'brownie points'. I was stupid enough to vote for the bastards despite having a disability myself, being too young to remember previous Tory governments - Labour got in when I was 15yo, in FC and more worried about surviving life that in Politics.

a lot of places charge, NCP car parks do.
still we have to make sure disabled people don't go out too much.

Waverley Councillors - 56 Tory, 1 independent.

"A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members."

Mahatma Ghandi and Winston Churchill

I'm leaving this thread for a bit..the disabled-bashing under the guise of 'wanting a debate' is really getting to me. I'moff to sit in the garden and enjoy the sun.

Blue badge holders are often on a limited budget due to often (obv not always) having to live on benefits. Or being elderly. Or whatever.
Charging them extortionate parking rates is unfair as they don't have the choice not to use the car in many cases. They are already financially disadvantaged in some cases as a result of their disability so lets not make life harder for them.

But it wouldn't all have to be based on financial circumstances.

It would also be based on where you live if you are somewhere particularly rural or if where you live has very limited or non disabled friendly bus services.

It wouldn't have to something glaringly obvious on the bb, it could just be a different series of numbers. Like a code on them wher numbers beginning with a 1 meant people had to pay, numbers beginning with a 2 meant people didn't. The only people that would look would be parking attendants, most people wouldn't even know what it meant. It seems preferable than assuming that just because someone is disabled that they can't afford parking.

not surprised.

A postcode lottery! why not?
Seriously, are there really that many people around that begrudge free parking to disabled people? I personally couldn't care less that someone is in the carpark without paying the £2 that I have paid because I have better things to worry about. As others have said, I can choose to park somewhere free and walk the difference if I want to save £2. Disabled people can't.
Even if the disabled person is a millionaire, I still couldn't care less as they are most likely in the minority. Most disabled people have enough struggles in their life already.

I just looked it up. They're a Tory council with knobs on. There are 57 councillors, of whom 56 are Tories.

If they are disabled they will have their own private chauffeur which they can claim on expenses......

x post

ffs so now you will judge who should pay , by the bus service!!
we live on a bus route, one every hour I think, full of buggys.
apart from the safety issues of wheelchairs on buses, and the getting people to move buggs, you have the hour wait(which isn't doable always)

I have no idea if this is the case already (prob not) but can't blue badge holders get a concessionary bus pass, as pensioners get them for free regardless of financial status?
Not that taking the bus is the solution for everyone.

Last time I took DS on the bus we couldnt get on the first 2 because his buggy is too big. The third bus accepted us but by then we had been waiting 40 minutes and we were late for our pead appointment.

paed

In the nearest town to us, all supermarkets have disabled spaces, all of the car parks do too. All of them are pay and display whether disabled or not. No reductions, just the same as everyone else.

In the town centre itself, there are a hand full of on road bays, where I can park for free, all day. But if I want to visit M&S on the far side of fuck which is very far away, but next to a larger/main car park that is always choc full, I can park on the double yellows outside of the store for free, for up to three hours.

I usually find a space to park in, and pay. However, if I want to go to just one area of the town, I'll try and park on the road or in a bay on the road as near to that place as possible.

Not because I don't want to pay, but because it is the nearest point to where I want to shop which means I can get there, get back and won't collapse!

Maybe the issue then is more to do with the actual Blue Badges (and who is entitled to them) than the parking charges? If the criteria for Blue Badge holders was tightened up so that only those who really NEED them have them, then it would serve both the disabled community who do need them (more spaces - the ones in our city are permanently full) and mean a fairer system all round?

My FIL has a Blue Badge. He has Alzheimers. Whilst he cannot catch a bus unless he wants to end up in some random town, and whilst he can't walk (same reason, no idea where he'd end up) he does not require a blue badge or free parking. He cannot drive, I can, but seeing as I can walk WITH him, catch a bus WITH him and park in a normal space and accompany him, he does not need the Blue Badge, so we do not use it, even though he's 'entitled'. There are some disabilities that can never be completely accomodated, where the 'playing field' will always be uneven. What my FIL requires is a companion, 24/7 to enable him to live independently and happily. It would cost too much. We do the best we can by him and for him. It sucks, its NOT fair, its cruel.

But we can pay for parking, so we do.

A bit off topic, but I regularly use the Severn bridge and have recently found myself wondering why blue badge holders don't have to pay while everyone else pays £5.70 (a lot, especially when you use it for work).
I went through the toll in a coach the other week, which gave me a great opportunity to snoop into people's cars (me, nosy?). I was shocked to see around 50% of drivers with blue badges ready to wave at the toll gate. I know a lot of disabilities aren't obvious to the eye buuuuuuut..... I'm sure there aren't that many genuinely disabled people using the severn bridge? Highly suspicious a lot of the badges were "borrowed". (Where can I get one?!)

But you don't automatically get a blue badge just for being disabled, they can be really quite hard to get.

Are we playing blue badge bingo again?