Page 2 | Or insensitive to ask council erase disabled parking bay outside my house

2020isnotbehaving · 09/11/2021 15:21

Plus they are not there for picking up or taxi drop offs normally driver only. So neighbour needing lift would not count has to be real need where she could not be left alone for the 60sec it took you walk up the street move the car closer then for her get in. Ie person with dementia who could not walk further up road but not be left while you went and moved the car.

Can’t believe people think the rules are optionally no wonder as a wheelchair user live is so hard when any space is open to all

Ryannah · 09/11/2021 15:27

You can’t park in it and neither can your neighbour. If there are no disabled people living nearby then it’s a wasted space. So I’d ask for it to be removed so residents can park there.

AwaAnBileYerHeid · 09/11/2021 15:30

@winnieanddaisy

You can park in it without repercussions. Anybody with a blue badge is allowed to park in it but so is anyone WITHOUT a blue badge . You won't be braking anymore laws .

I thought only blue badge holders can park in a disabled space. Otherwise what is the point in having protected disabled spaces?

2020isnotbehaving · 09/11/2021 15:33

Excatly!

Bloodypunkrockers · 09/11/2021 15:38

@winnieanddaisy

You can park in it without repercussions. Anybody with a blue badge is allowed to park in it but so is anyone WITHOUT a blue badge . You won't be braking anymore laws .

That doesn't sound right. In a private car park, maybe

But on a public road, with blue badge signage, you should get a ticket if you don't display a BB

Lemonsyellow · 09/11/2021 15:40

@winnieanddaisy

You can park in it without repercussions. Anybody with a blue badge is allowed to park in it but so is anyone WITHOUT a blue badge . You won't be braking anymore laws .

Eh? That can’t be right.

TakeYourFinalPosition · 09/11/2021 15:42

They won’t remove them. They warn you about it when you have one fitted… and it then counts towards the disabled parking quota in the area.

You can ask; but be prepared for them to say they don’t remove them once they’ve been established.

TractorAndHeadphones · 09/11/2021 15:42

@Sugarplumfairy65

The blue badge space wasn't just for your neighbor, its for all blue badge holders. There a few enough of these spaces already without someone who doesn't need one asking for one to be removed for their own convenience. YABVU

While a disabled parking bay is technically available for any blue badge holder - the point of having one in a residential space is to ensure that disabled people with no off road parking can park in front of their OWN house. If a disabled visitor showed up and said disabled bay was further than alternative parking then what’s the point of parking in said bay? Fair enough if there’s no other space but disabled bay might be more troublesome if there was.

In my area disabled bays are advisory - there’s nothing to stop anyone else from parking there. Council reserves the right to remove it. Most people accept the sign but in cases where the disabled person has since moved out people have just parked there while waiting for the council to remove it.

TractorAndHeadphones · 09/11/2021 15:43

www.salford.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-travel/parking-car-parks-and-bus-lanes/disabled-parking/

@TakeYourFinalPosition it depends on council as you can see mine doesn’t.

Bytheseaseasea · 09/11/2021 15:44

You can write to your council and ask for it to be removed. They’ll come and put a sign next to it saying “we’ve been notified this space is no longer needed and we are planning to remove it. If you object, please write to us by x date.” Then if they receive no objections within the time period they will come and remove it. This gives anyone with a legitimate need for retaining the space time to respond and make sure the space is kept.

Since we’ve lived in our road we’ve had 2x disabled spaces painted and then removed once the residents have moved away.

Our council website also says that if the space is just painted on the road then it’s discretionary and anyone can use it. But if it has a sign on a post on the pavement then it’s blue badge holders only and you can be fined for parking there without a blue badge.

2020isnotbehaving · 09/11/2021 15:46

Goodness so if you are a disabled resident in your council there is very very limited places where you can park it depends on how benevolent all the drivers are on a given day?

Hadjab · 09/11/2021 15:47

@Scottishnurse

Semi detached house with shared entrance with NDN. Lovely elderly couple next door, husband died beginning of this year. The husband had a disabled bay painted before we moved in 5 years ago. When he died the wife gave the car up.

So now the neighbour across the street uses it. I dont feel comfortable parking in it. Its also quite big and without it an extra car could park on the street.

WIBU to ask the council to remove it? Would it be insensitive to my widowed NDN?

If your council is anything like mine, they won’t remove it. Mine is a slightly different scenario though. I got one put in for my husband. When he passed away, I contacted the council to ask them to remove it. Interestingly, my neighbours on the right got a blue badge about a year later, as did my neighbours on the left. Left hand neighbour asked me if I would mind contacting the council to get it removed, so that she could apply for one for her mum, who cannot walk far, literally a few metres as she has a heart condition. No problem. I did point out that the right hand neighbours had started using it too, and that she should probably talk to them. As an aside, we have another neighbour four doors up, on the other side of the road, who had a bay put in for his disabled wife, who also passed, which he doesn’t use, and neither does anyone else. He also asked for his to be removed. In my head, it makes sense for them to remove his, remove mine, then put one in front of each NDN’s house, that way we have two spaces that are actually being used, instead of one 🤷‍♀️

sasparilla1 · 09/11/2021 15:48

OP - we had this situation where we lived. Someone phoned the council and they came and removed the sign and the paint on the road.

me4real · 09/11/2021 15:50

If the neighbour is disabled, then no you can't ask for it to be removed for your own convenience. The space can be used by any blue badge holder.

@MrsGeralt @Scottishnurse On a residential street a painted disabled marking isn't a recognized thing to that extent. It's more of a polite request to neighbours- no one would be given a ticket for parking in it for instance.

The road markings are purely advisory and not legally enforceable by either the council’s Civil Enforcement Officers or the police.

www.sandwell.gov.uk/info/200286/parking_and_permits/2342/apply_for_a_disabled_parking_bay_or_h-bar_markings

I think if you had it removed, no one would know if it was you that asked for it. But then again, maybe they'd ask the woman if her husband was dead, which might be a bit hurtful for her. Perhaps they wouldn't remove it out of consideration.

Lemonsyellow · 09/11/2021 15:51

My council, at least, will remove them rather quickly if they are no longer needed by the original applicant. There’s a shortage of parking spaces as it is.

Hadjab · 09/11/2021 15:53

@me4real

If the neighbour is disabled, then no you can't ask for it to be removed for your own convenience. The space can be used by any blue badge holder.

@MrsGeralt @Scottishnurse On a residential street a painted disabled marking isn't a recognized thing to that extent. It's more of a polite request to neighbours- no one would be given a ticket for parking in it for instance.

The road markings are purely advisory and not legally enforceable by either the council’s Civil Enforcement Officers or the police.

www.sandwell.gov.uk/info/200286/parking_and_permits/2342/apply_for_a_disabled_parking_bay_or_h-bar_markings

I think if you had it removed, no one would know if it was you that asked for it. But then again, maybe they'd ask the woman if her husband was dead, which might be a bit hurtful for her. Perhaps they wouldn't remove it out of consideration.

That’s not strictly true - I got a ticket in ‘my’ bay outside my house as I’d forgotten to display the badge, and a random person reported it.

RubyTuesday70 · 09/11/2021 15:57

We have got a commercial vehicle, and pay the council £500 a year to be able to park overnight in a permit holder zone. One man took great exception to this, and pointed out that the parking bay on the road outside his house was for a disabled person (his mother) and we were breaking the law. Though it's patrolled regularly and we've never had a ticket and the lines around it were very faded.

On enquiring to the local council, I was told it was historically a disabled bay but the resident had passed away so they just let the road markings fade as it's too costly to remove them. So we were perfectly entitled to use it.

itsallgoingpearshaped · 09/11/2021 15:58

Contact the council and ask for it to be removed. Explain why. Shouldn't be hard.

IreneIddesleigh · 09/11/2021 16:00

I think I'd ask. Would your neighbour ever know who made the request?
The council might simply notice it was no longer needed.

CloudPop · 09/11/2021 16:15

@me4real

If the neighbour is disabled, then no you can't ask for it to be removed for your own convenience. The space can be used by any blue badge holder.

@MrsGeralt @Scottishnurse On a residential street a painted disabled marking isn't a recognized thing to that extent. It's more of a polite request to neighbours- no one would be given a ticket for parking in it for instance.

The road markings are purely advisory and not legally enforceable by either the council’s Civil Enforcement Officers or the police.

www.sandwell.gov.uk/info/200286/parking_and_permits/2342/apply_for_a_disabled_parking_bay_or_h-bar_markings

I think if you had it removed, no one would know if it was you that asked for it. But then again, maybe they'd ask the woman if her husband was dead, which might be a bit hurtful for her. Perhaps they wouldn't remove it out of consideration.

Depends on the setup. If you are ina parking permit controlled zone, you would get a ticket for parking in a disabled bay without a blue badge.

Slowfoxfast · 09/11/2021 16:17

If it is a dedicated disabled bay you can ask the council to remove it as no-one else can park in it legally. A dedicated one will have a number painted on it and a sign stating only the user of that permit can park there.

saraclara · 09/11/2021 16:22

It's expensive to get them painted over. Simply call the council and ask what the situation is now that the gentleman has died. It may be that it's discretionary and that you can park there, or it might be that they can delete it from the database so that no-one parking there will be ticketed.

TMChappyascanbe · 09/11/2021 16:25

I would report the neighbour for misuse of a disabled bay.

The bay is not just there for one specific person, even if they originally requested it, it is there for any Blue Badge holder to use.

HopeHappy · 09/11/2021 16:29

If the surviving wife has a blue badge of her own, then the space is there to be able for her to get to a car outside her house, whether she has her own car or not.

It is a sensitive topic though and I'm not actually too sure what the council can (or will) do about it once a space is created. I seem to remember reading that some spaces are entrenched in law and others are more "advisory" or "courtesy" markings that won't actually get you in trouble if you park in them. I'm not sure what the difference is though. I confess I haven't RTFT though so someone may already have said!

Original poster

Scottishnurse · 09/11/2021 16:34

Thanks for the replies.

Now that NDN has passed away there is really no other need for a disabled space. Its a small section of the street with 6 houses on it. 2 don't have cars.

If I come home and across street neighbours are out I still leave the disabled space empty.

None of this really has a massive impact on my life tbh but today I had to carry a carpet up the hill and it made me think about it.

OP posts: