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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

aghast at the amount of reduced / free disabled parking being removed

54 replies

pettywitchinlondon · 06/06/2015 13:34

It used to be that most places provided free parking for disabled badge holders. This seams to very rapidly being removed. Aibu to be annoyed at this blatant profiteering?

OP posts:

ilovechristmas1 · 06/06/2015 19:46

lots of disabled spaces here

i dont agree tax free cars get free parking,i would suggest All blue badge holders get 100% more time,say pay for one hr get 2hrs

i dont see why the tax free ones dont pay in our local car parks,if their tax free that means they are getting high rate mobility DLA/PIP and thats one thing it should go towards

ChucksAhoy · 06/06/2015 23:00

Council's are not profiteering! On getting rid of paper tax discs disability groups requested that nil tax blue badge holders (which free parking is based on) not be distinguished by looking up their number plates via the DVLA - this means that not only can the general public not see if a vehicle is exempt, but Council's can't either.
If you look up a vehicle via the DVLA it will say it's nil tax, but not the reason for that (and there are several).
In my area certainly its not about making money, it's about managing a new situation. Honestly, you take money away from Council's, devolve powers, change systems and then expect them to work miracles

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 07/06/2015 00:18

IloveChristmas they don't pay because they have to use the car and don't have the alternative cheaper option that others have, to use public transport or walk. Hence they would incur much higher parking costs ..how is that fair? The HRM is towards running a car which is essential...people who don't need HRM have the choice to live without a car. Taking huge parking costs from it is unfair.

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 07/06/2015 00:19

That's not even touching on it being quite mean spirited to grudge someone with a disability a free parking space.

DancingDinosaur · 07/06/2015 00:24

Bb holders should get free parking. They have less options available to them to park somewhere else or walk. What sort of person would begrudge that

CrohnicallyInflexible · 07/06/2015 07:46

I think it's a consequence of more private car park companies springing up. Round here, council car parks are still free for bb holders (afaik) but some of the council car parks have been handed over to private companies (who charge a fortune, and not all offer reductions for bb holders), and there are a lot of people charging a set fee to park on their otherwise empty land.

I can see both sides tbh- if I was charging people to park on my drive, then I wouldn't be able to afford to offer free parking for bb holders. Otherwise it would very quickly fill up with people parking for free and I would be having to pay for maintenance of the drive without getting any money in. The people that charge to park on their private land are doing much the same thing, but on a larger scale. And I'm afraid that if you don't like it, the responsibility is on you to look for somewhere else to park.

Council car parks are different, as we all pay council tax and they have a responsibility to use that money in ways that will benefit those that need it.

MythicalKings · 07/06/2015 07:55

It's always been the policy here that BB holders pay for car parking but there are a few free places in the town centre, much in demand. The layout of the town doesn't lend itself to more free places without bringing all traffic to a halt.

Parking is cheap and BB holders I know don't mind paying. You get your money back if you park at the supermarket.

addictedtosugar · 07/06/2015 07:59

No lack of blue parking spaces round here.
What does make me cross is when the carpark is packed apart from a dozen blue badge spaces which are empty.
It sounds like this isn't always the case. So councils should adjust the number of blue spaces in relation to the population. It shouldn't be decreed as X% of spaces.

We have a brand new carpark at work. We are desperate for parking spaces, as some government initiative has decreed that new work places shouldn't have sufficient parking spaces for the occupancy of the building. OK, except the nearest bus stop is 3 miles away, and involves crossing a duel carriageway, and then walking along another duel carriageway with no pavement. 8 spaces are marked as disabled (so 12 typical spaces). There are another 4 spaces at the other building. There is one blue badge holder in the company. They don't need 12 spaces. 4 should cover current needs and potential increased needs.

Sorry, for ranty hijack. But the spaces should be available, free or reduced, but not excessive.

lambsie · 07/06/2015 08:12

I'd rather have more bb spaces and have to pay for them than fewer and get them free. I think the allocation of bb needs looking at as at the moment it is possible to have a nhs issued wheelchair but have no entitlement to a bb (in the case of severe learning and behavioural difficulties).

ToBeeOrNot · 07/06/2015 08:20

I don't know how it works from a regulatory point of view but somewhere I go a lot has disabled bays which are signposted as can be used by anyone if all other available spaces are used.

DosDuchas · 07/06/2015 08:21

Thousands here. It's a bit patronising to presume all disabled people are poor surely

Superexcited · 07/06/2015 08:34

i dont see why the tax free ones dont pay in our local car parks,if their tax free that means they are getting high rate mobility DLA/PIP and thats one thing it should go towards

A significant amount of people who get higher rate mobility /pip spend their total allowance on a suitable motability vehicle, they have to find additional money to pay for adaptations to those vehicles if they need adaptations. They also have to pay for a blue badge in most areas now.
They don't have the option of parking in cheaper car parks which are further away.
They don't have the option of walking into town.
They sometimes need twice as long as an able bodied person to do things like shopping etc.

The free parking should not need to be determined by car tax status as that is what the blue badge is for. If somebody has a blue badge then it is because they have been assessed as being unable to walk very far or needing to be near medical equipment etc. having a valid blue badge and displaying it should be enough to satisfy the parking attendants.

eurochick · 07/06/2015 09:05

Lots of free BB spaces round here too (in both senses of the word). There are always whole rows of empty BB spaces at our local shopping centre when the rest of the car park is rammed.

DosDuchas · 07/06/2015 09:06

My dad has a blue badge and they're loaded. Why shouldn't he pay?

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 07/06/2015 09:16

Well since they can't means test it and there will be people who can't pay...not charging anyone is the way to go.

lambsie · 07/06/2015 09:16

I don't think someone with a bb should have to pay more and since it does take longer to get around a reduced rate appears fair. If you started means testing that would cost more to implement.

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 07/06/2015 09:17

Anyway the point is not that disabled people are all poor. It's that they have higher costs relating to mobility

Samcro · 07/06/2015 09:24

my adult gets the high rate, it all goes on her free WAV.
so there is nothing left to pay for parking,
add into the fact that due to the severity of her disability she is in a wheelchair and requires a very large WAV, parking when she is on board is very limited.
so having to pay as well is one more way of making life bloody hard for her.

just up the cost for temp able bodied people.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 07/06/2015 09:30

Completely agree with Dancing Dinosaur.

noddyholder · 08/06/2015 10:31

Its not about ability to pay its about ease of access and convenience etc.

hedgehogsdontbite · 08/06/2015 11:15

It's not about ability to pay. It's about decency, fairness and not putting extra burdens on people who already have enough to cope with.

For example 2 people want to go to the same 4 shops. The able person pays for 3 hours parking walks to all the shops. The disabled person needs double that time so has to pay more. Or maybe they can only manage 1 shop so have to make 4 separate trips to do the same thing so ends up paying more. Or maybe they can't walk between the shops and have to drive paying for 4 different car parks, again paying more.

morelikeguidelines · 08/06/2015 11:30

Rows of empty spaces at our local shopping centre and also swimming pool.

LurkingHusband · 08/06/2015 11:36

(MrsLH holds a BB).

I think part of the reason behind this is to remove one of the qualities which make a BB so attractive for fraud, and that's free parking (or "free" parking).

There was a case in Brum a while back where a solicitor was caught abusing a relatives BB to gain free parking near his office for two years. He was caught and charged (can't recall the exact offence) and the press mentioned he had evaded paying over £20,000 in parking fees.

As with most things, you will never deter the determined. However I'd guess 80/20 holds here as with most things. 80% of BB abuse is probably more to laziness than malice. It's sooooooooooooooo tempting to pull into the first space you see and "not realise" it's a BB space. Especially it it's raining. My guess is based on observations at locations where the BB parking has been (presumably carefully) designed to be the last point in the journey - there's an ASDA in Cornwall we were on holiday a few years back. The BB spaces were next to the entrance (as you'd expect) but the only way to get to them was to drive through the rest of the car park. Apparently they were rarely abused.

Our local shops/high street are refreshing hot on BB abuse. There are 6 BB spaces on the high street and a side road, and whenever we have seen a non-BB car in there, it's been ticketed.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 08/06/2015 11:48

Hedge has summed it up nicely, it's about lack of choice when you are disabled .

BeyondDoesBootcamp · 08/06/2015 11:58

Can all the posters who have rows upon rows of free accessible parking spaces let us know their location? No pesky job to prevent me from upping sticks and moving anywhere in the country :)

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