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 know Godalming fairly well (my dad's home town) and tbh the main car park in town is cheap (for a town centre car park) so I certainly wouldn't begrudge an extra few pence an hour to keep blue badge parking free (assuming this is a fundraising 'initiative' not a penalise the disabled idea).

I can't imagine why any other able bodied person wouldn't do the same. It's hardly glamorous being disabled (speaking as someone who has epilepsy and is unable to drive) so a few 'perks' to even the playing field shouldn't be resented.

If paying extra for parking meant my epilepsy disappeared I'd do it in a flash (not that I have a BB) and I'm sure a lot of other people would swap free parking for their disability.

Getting the bus is a hassle I could do with out as I have 3 children under 5 (my choice) but one has arthritis so has a massive SN pushchair (not my choice on either count - she is too big for an ordinary child's buggy) and we struggle to get on and off the bus with it. I got the frame grounded on the bus yesterday (arseholes were parking in the bus stop and the driver didn't want to lower the bus while in the road) - luckily two very nice women helped me off as my sciatica kicked in and it was all I could do not to drop the pushchair with my daughter in it.

Still it's easier for me than most so I do consider myself lucky that I don't have it worse than I do. At least I can walk and the SN pushchair is for DD2 to rest and for her comfort - she can walk but tires easily - rather than because she cannot walk at all.

Round us nigh on impossible I'd say! One thing we have found (or dparents) is that the is no set way of doing things, each borough and council do their own thing without making it very clear - my dp's had to go to London for appointments related to the disability and every time dm got a parking ticket - because the rules round that particular area (not even the whole borough) were different - now a major London hospital doesn't just treat Londonites does it? Great Ormond St doesn't and neither do any of the others so how are you all meant to know. Rant Over

What a load of utter arse. As usual.

People with disabilities serious enough to warrant a blue badge are always going to find day-to-day things much harder than those without disabilities. It is therefore appropriate, in a society that believes it should be inclusive, to find ways of making things easier for them.

Free parking makes normal daily tasks more do-able for many disabled people so free parking is a good thing. If a particular individual finds it patronising or unecessary then I am sure that person can live with it better than a dozen other people could live with being unable to afford to do their grocery shopping or go for a cup of coffee with a friend. You know. Just as if they were just like other "normal" people, rather than being the slightly less-entitled sub-species that they clearly should accept that they are.

The existance of free disabled parking does not affect any non-disabled person at all. If disabled people have to pay for their parking, the Council are hardly likely to think "ooh, what shall we do with the extra money? I know, let's reduce everyone else's parking charges."

Maybe, just maybe, everyone who doesn't need this "perk" could try to just be pleased for those who do that it is available in some places. And perhaps sympathise a little when it isn't.

And RVF400 re: "(Where can I get one?!)"

That is easy. Chop one of your legs off or contract a life-limiting illness. I am sure a blue badge will more than compensate for the downsides of your resulting disability.

kungfupannda You can tell them but they don't listen. You are pissing into the wind!

Meh.

That is the only comment i'm making.

kungfu do you think this would stand up in court if a disabled people challenged it as indirect discrimination?

I'd like to think that those WITH Blue Badges but who don't actually require them would use a normal space and pay too. Like my FIL and I.

The system can be unfair though, there's no denying that, from BOTH sides. I am not suggesting that disabled people should expect nothing, but rather that the system does need looking at closely. There's many people WITH Blue Badges who don't NEED them and who could pay, there's many people who require Blue Badges who can't get them. Unfair.

It doesn't make a difference to me if disabled parking is free or not, it doesn't bother me if its free, it doesn't make me sneer and think 'disabled get EVERYTHING' because that's not an attitude I have. At the same time, a small charge in city centres where parking is limited isn't something that should provoke abject outrage either. On the other hand, there is no denying that for some people, a charge would mean the difference of having a life and being able to go to town or staying at home.

As there are so many levels of fairness and unfairness, the only solution as I can see it would be to have a Blue Badge grading system. Where those that can't afford to pay but need the badge get free parking, and those who can well afford to pay but need the disabled spaces do.

aldiwhore Have you any idea how intrusive and nasty any means-testing of anything has to be to work at all?

So X is disabled and rich and parks for nothing. So bloody what?

As there are so many levels of fairness and unfairness, the only solution as I can see it would be to have a Blue Badge grading system. Where those that can't afford to pay but need the badge get free parking, and those who can well afford to pay but need the disabled spaces do.

Do you think education should be graded too? Free for only the poorest? How much would you be willing to be charged? Your kids education cost the taxpayers far more than my free parking.

What makes you so confident that there are a lot of people out there who don't need their blue badges?

They don't hand them out on a whim you know,just because they like your face. It's not easy to get one. It's not easy to get any sort of assistance or support if you have a disability.

It took a long time for my mother to get her bus pass. She had/has epilepsy. We were about to give up on it because the stress it was causing us wasn't worth it. It was utterly humiliating.The company made us feel like we were begging.

It also took forever to get Carer's allowance when I was looking after my grandmother when she developed dementia,in addition to end stage COPD. I don't know how many times I wept over that form because it was never ending.,and so complicated. It took me over two weeks to fill it in.
That I have a disbability which makes form filling particuarly difficult didn't help,but it's a nightmare form for anyone.

Actually my Grandmother died before we could receive Carer's allowance. We didn't hear back until 6 weeks after her death. And we'd applied some time before she died.

I also seem to remember that getting her blue badge,in spite of COPD,needing oxygen at home, and heart problems was a real nightmare too.

As for means testing do you realise how much that'd cost? And how expensive having a disability is? And that all the money in the world doesn't make one's health problems go away?

Lots of things are means tested. To get a blue badge you have to answer some personal questions don't you? If there's a box that requires you to state your income or reason for requiring free parking, I don't see it as any more intrusive than any other form?

Anyway, I'll leave this now as I think I'll be damned if I question the semantics any more. We still won't use the Blue Badge of my FIL's, we'll pay because we can, and as we can we should.

I think the council probably has better things to do and better things to spend money on than means testing of blue badges. The cost of such a system would cancel out any parking revenue that they would make.
Why are people so obsessed with every tiny bit of fairness or perceived unfairness that they get their knickers in such a twist over a couple of quid in parking charges?
Yes, if people are dishonestly borrowing blue badges that don't belong to them to go over the severn crossing or to park outside Sainsbury's, that is wrong.
But don't penalise the majority of disabled people who have enough on their plate already.

It's good to pay because you can. It's like better off people who donate their winter fuel allowance to Age Concern. They don't need the money but others do.

If they means test parking can I get it free please. I am unemployed and saving 2 quid a week would be very helpful. Why just means test the disabled after all??

I actually do think the system is unfair that some people require them and don't get them, and others, like my FIL don't need one yet got one without a fuss. I didn't apply for one by the way, SIL did, so she can use it to go to M+S, but that's a whole other discussion.

kladd I say to you what I said to kung at 11.12!

Agreed Andrew. We need a 'pointlessly banging head against wall' smilie.

Oh FFS.

Yes, that's right, you can 'borrow' a Blue badge to save paying a toll fee.

Blue Badges are like DLA in this county. You have to PROVE that you need one. They don't just give them out if you sprain your feckin ankle.

You have to fill in bastard forms and give details of your GP/physio etc.

Why is it that those without Blue Badges are so jealous? I'd give mine up in a shot in exchange to not have to take high doses of morphine and other opiates throughout the day just so that I can walk.

I know it's different all over the country because it's issued by the local council but come the fuck on...... there's no way that you can 'know' that a person doesn't need their badge.

My some has Complex Additional Needs. When he was born, we could have claimed for him as he required a lot of medical equipment should we go out.

But we didn't. We decided that between us all, we could managed to get him back to the car should we need to.

So not everyone takes the piss. Not everyone will choose to apply if they feel that actually, they can do without.

Only a small minority will spoil it for those who genuinely NEED a badge.

aldiwhore words fail me so have a

I'll accept that Sevenfold

I'm guessing aldi that she does what I do and parks outside the shop?

See the difference is, I only do that if the car park opposite has no space which granted is every time!

It's not just about ability to walk, take the bus etc...it's about the already tremendous extra expenses incurred caring for a disabled person (or in my case 2 SLD kids)
Caring for one is 3 times more expensive than caring for a non disabled child.Caring for 2 is 10 times more expensive (Joseph Rowntree Foundation)

So if we get the odd quid here or there which we dont have to pay to help out it's such a bonus.

Disabled people and their carers live way below the breadline in the majority, what is a drop in the ocean for most is quite a bit for those living already hand to mouth, being forced to rely on paltry residual benefits.

My two can walk (and run bloody fast too if the mood takes them, straight under the wheels of a lorry perhaps) but I defo would not fancy taking them on a bus to get out and about, it's hard enough by car.
If I get to park free, so bloody what.
I'd rather pay if it meant my boys were not disabled!

No my SIL isn't disabled, she uses my FIL's badge, without FIL for convenient shopping... a whole other discussion like I said.

This is probably the first Blue Badge and charging discussion I've ever had in any great depth, and I will say that there have been many points raised that I hadn't considered. I guess means testing would cost more than free parking. I also still think that each individual should exercise their responsibility, but many don't... however, that is somewhat off on a tangent under a different heading.

I've not been here long and haven't witnessed any disabled bashing threads, and in no way have I ever implied that disabled people get an easy life. Simply, from my experiences of those around me, I have known the system to be unfair and abused often, AND for the record I don't have an issue with anyone getting free parking, or really whether they're charged either, depending on certain circumstances it is fair enough, in others, clearly not so.

I'll consider myself told!

I'm liking Kladdaka's posts.
They do the same in Devon, you know.

Ah, I see aldi well, she'll get caught out with a bit of luck one day.

aldi I also know a misuser - has one for her son and uses it when she is out and about for unrelated purposes - but that's life.