Disabled parking angst

[ProbablyNotMad]

My aunt is disabled and has a blue badge. The council recently put a disabled space on the road in front of her house. Lame drawing attached as per rules. Aunt was really pleased as parking can be busy and she often has to park a few houses down, which is tiring when she has shopping to unload. Unfortunately, Aunt's neighbour is also disabled and he is telling her that she is not allowed to use the disabled space. He had requested it from the council and it is for him to use not her. She is continuing to use it when she needs to but the neighbour is leaving horrible notes on her car and shouts at her when he sees her. Yesterday, someone further up the road had a disabled visitor who parked in the disabled space. They got a nasty note too.

I have spoken to the council and they have said that anyone with a blue badge can use the space and they won't create another disabled space on that road.

I think aunt should call the police and report him for harassment but she is reluctant to do this as she doesn't want to bother the police and this might make the neighbour angrier.

What would you do? Would we be unreasonable to call the police over this?

Technically your aunt is right, but she's being a cheeky fucker, since she didn't hassle the council to get the space in the first place, the neighbour did and now he can't use it. If I was him I'd be pissed off too.

I think you need to speak with him and point out that it’s not specifically “his” space, he may not realise this.

Legally anyone can park there but I think morally your aunt is in the wrong. He was the one who requested the space.

Your aunt is being a cheeky fucker.

If she needed a space she should have applied to the council for one. How did she manage before?

I feel bad for her neighbour who put the work in because he needed one (it was likely a huge PITA and then a wait for him), finally was approved and received it only to have his cheeky neighbour saunter in and deprive him of the use of it.

Technically your aunt is right, but she's being a cheeky fucker, since she didn't hassle the council to get the space in the first place, the neighbour did and now he can't use it. If I was him I'd be pissed off too.

This.

Also not all disabilities are equal.

You say your aunt gets 'tired' when carrying her shopping a few doors down.

I'm guessing the council don't run around installing parking spaces on a whim- I'm guessing his disability is significant enough that he was able to make a case that he had genuine need for the park - likely more than trying to avoid being tired carrying shopping.

Does your aunt only park there when she has shopping to offload or is she parking there as a matter of course?

The council could end this issue tomorrow by installing a second disabled space. I find their position bizarre.

That said, regardless of the technical rights and wrongs regarding ownership of the space, my sympathies are with the bloke who actually went to the bother of putting in a request for the space, not your aunt.

To answer some questions.

• The space is empty most of the time as Neighbour parks on his drive. He parks in the disabled space when he has visitors and the visitors park on his drive.
• Aunt is only parking in the space when she has shopping to unload as she is trying to leave the space clear for Neighbour. However other people are parking there when she doesn't.
• Aunt did contact the council a while back about a space but didn't hear anything back from them. When the space was put in she thought it was for her but the neighbour says it was his request.

@OldTinHat I am sorry you are having such problems.

We applied for a disabled bay for my son, and although anyone with a blue badge can legally use it, it's still frustrating when they do (and even more so when CFs without blue badges park there) so I can definitely sympathise with the man. If your aunt needed a bay that much she should have applied for it in the first place.

Even though you've already spoken to the council I'd still try applying for another bay - surely you can explain on the application form why it's needed.

Just seen your update that she did contact the council - can she apply formally again or check the outcome of her initial application as that should say whether it's her bay or his!

What happens to the third person with a blue badge, and the fourth ? Do the council just keep creating disabled bays ? Our area has a high number of blue badge owners and it's just not realistic to expect the council to provide parking bays for every disabled person.

Aunt did contact the council a while back about a space but didn't hear anything back from them. When the space was put in she thought it was for her but the neighbour says it was his request.

It was possibly her request then - we didn't hear anything from our local council when we requested a bay, it just appeared three months later outside of our house (and was painted whilst we were all in bed with flu!) The neighbour might still be waiting for a decision, or could even have been declined (but doesn't want to admit this). To be honest, he has a dropped kerb - the most our council would offer him is an H-Bar across that drive, not an additional bay. For peace of mind, it might be worth Aunt calling to the council to enquire whose request it was!

If he has his own drive no way would the council mark up a space on his request.

Do his visitors have limited mobility too?

Can't they just communicate and he let her know when he's expecting visitors so they can work together?

Oh. Well all parts of your update completely change things. Why didn't you say so? You'd have got very different responses.

You need to find out whose request has led to the space.

This often happens when threads aren't going as planned.

To be fair, the OP included the dropped kerb and driveway of the neighbour in her diagram and the neighbour was never going to get a disabled bay as well.

Like @JenniferAllisonPhillipaSue says, the Council would have offered him a painted H-bar on the road opposite his dropped kerb.

But yeah, helpful to have the full facts in an OP!

Agree. So weird not to include that in the OP.

Given the update, I am surprised the man got a disabled space when he has a driveway.

If the neighbour has a drive he can access then he wouldn’t be entitled to a disabled bay…
I suspect the bay was put in for your Aunt…especially as it is in front of her house. Contact them again and ask who made the application for that bay.

I can understand why he is upset. He's gone to the effort of trying to sort a disabled space as he clearly thinks he needs it and along comes your aunt who hasn't bothered to do so herself and has the cheek to use it.

It may be perfectly legal and of course no harrassment is justified but morally its bang out of order.

Drip feeds are so annoying.

Look up the local council's website and print out the relevant page or form from the Disabled Parking bay application.

I just looked at our local council's application form and it clearly states on it:

"A Disabled Persons Parking Bay is not exclusively for the use of the applicant. The reservation of parking spaces for particular individuals on public highway is not permitted, and therefore any motorist displaying a valid Blue Bade may use these bays."

Highlight the same paragraph and stick it through his door and put another highlighted copy on your own dashboard.

On our council's form, you have to sign a declaration which also states "I acknowledge that I do not have ownership or legal rights over the use of the Disabled Persons Parking Bay that may be provided" and "I acknowledge that any vehicle displaying a legal blue bade is entitled to use the Disabled Parking bay"

Also on our council guidance it says "If an applicant has a driveway or an alternative off-road parking space, the application will be turned down."

So, if he has a driveway, there's a good chance his application was turned down and it's actually your Aunt's application that was successful and he's the CF!