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?

I think your aunt is a bit of a cheeky fucker tbh ..

I know he doesn't have rights over it but if they put it there for him he would have had to fight to get that and then she comes along and uses it

Surely you can see his point ??

I have a disabled mum , son and bil so I totally get things are tricky . If she has a front garden surely she should pay for a drop curb then she can do what she likes

Why are people so dumb on here sometimes? The neighbour has his own off road parking, there is no way that a council will also then allocate him a disabled parking spot on a public highway. It is not a question of anyone being a "cheeky fucker"! The level of comprehension is most alarming

As they BOTH applied for a space and the neighbour has his own driveway then it is likely that it was your aunts application that got the space installed and not the neighbour who doesn't need the space.

But this is irrelevant as anyone with a blue badge can use it. If he is aggressive then report to the police.

RTFT.

This is all well and good, except aunt and angry bloke can’t both have a disabled space. So by technically requesting one first he is stopping her from ever having one even if her need is equal to or greater than his.

They didn’t put it there for him- they put it there for disabled people. Aunt has a blue badge, she can park there as can anyone else with a blue badge.

My directly opposite neighbour has a disabled space outside his house- he made a particular effort to come and tell me that I could also use it because we can’t both have one and we both need it. Normal pleasant behaviour. I don’t use it because parking isn’t a massive issue here and he is elderly as well as disabled and doesn’t have a carer to help him.

The aunt is disabled. She applied for a space. A space was put directly outside her house.

A neighbour across the road is disabled. He also applied for a space. He has a drive with a dropped curb on his property. The disabled bay was not put outside his house.

He is rude and aggressive towards anyone else using the space, even though he only uses it when he has visitors- and you honestly think that the aunt is in the wrong?!

At the end of the day, if the bay is marked in white, then it's fair game, and anyone can park in it, BB holder or not. That's the law.

My neighbour a few doors up also has a BB and marked bay and we have an unspoken agreement that if we're both out, return to find 'our' bay taken but the other's is free, we won't park in each other's out of courtesy. But every time the bays are taken, they are by non BB holders. Every single time.

I came back yesterday afternoon after one of several weekly medical appointments to find a huge 4x4 with no BB outside. It's still there now. I'm back in the public car park three roads away with the pleasure of paying £250 for a permit there.

It's infuriating, anxiety inducing and can cause irrational rage, but it doesn't matter who requested it. It's a courtesy bay that can be used by any Tom, Dick or Harry. Mine is mostly used by Dicks.

No council in the country will put a blue badge space on the road for someone who has a driveway so it isn't the neighbour's space.

At the end of the day, if the bay is marked in white, then it's fair game, and anyone can park in it, BB holder or not. That's the law.

My neighbour a few doors up also has a BB and marked bay and we have an unspoken agreement that if we're both out, return to find 'our' bay taken but the other's is free, we won't park in each other's out of courtesy. But every time the bays are taken, they are by non BB holders. Every single time.

I came back yesterday afternoon after one of several weekly medical appointments to find a huge 4x4 with no BB outside. It's still there now. I'm back in the public car park three roads away with the pleasure of paying £250 for a permit there.

It's infuriating, anxiety inducing and can cause irrational rage, but it doesn't matter who requested it. It's a courtesy bay that can be used by any Tom, Dick or Harry. Mine is mostly used by Dicks.

Sorry! Don't know why that posted twice!

Disabled/BB spaces aren’t put there for one person. Anyone with a BB can park there. I’ve no idea what “legislation” you’re referring to as it doesn’t exist.

I applied for a disabled parking space for a severely disabled relative. The job was approved and carried out by the council but the confirmation letter clearly stated the space was not allocated to the address and anyone with a valid blue badge was entitled to park in it. This did happen occasionally and I wouldn’t dream of putting a note on their windscreen.

But I did put a note on the windscreen of cheeky fuckers who parked there without a blue badge and politely pointed out the space was for blue badge holders only.

I can understand the neighbour’s frustration as it sounds as if he did all the hard work of getting the council to make a disabled bay and now it is not available to him.

Our council provides more than one bay in a street if there is a need. Has your aunt pushed through al the channels? Got her local councillors involved?

However, Looking at your diagram, is that the disabled neighbour who has a dropped kerb and a drive?

@Blackbyrd the OP said the neighbour applied for it himself . I presumed that is true , obvs if it isn't then it's a free for all and anyone with. A blue badge can you on a first come first serve basis but I would be cross if I'd done all the work and someone else used the space .

@TakenRoot @boboshmobo read the thread! The aunt also applied for a space- the neighbour has a dropped curb and a drive! The space was put outside the aunts house, not the neighbours!

councils don’t give disability bays for people who already have their own drive!

We used to have that, and phoned the council. They send out a traffic warden who gives them a ticket. Could you do that?

I'm sure I'm not the only one who replies to the Op which states the neighbour said it was for him. My answer was based on that information

Obvs if it's for the aunt or for everyone she isn't in the wrong at all

My Council would also issue a Penalty Charge Notice for that kind of flagrant violation. The phone number to call is in its website.

@Howlingmoor when I posted there was no mention of neighbour having a driveway. That puts a totally different light on it.

Update:

I have just been to Aunt's house as she is upset. She hasn't parked in the disabled bay since the weekend but other people have been parking there. Last night/this morning Neighbour put a nasty letter in her letterbox this morning ranting about how Aunt has told people to park in 'his' space and threatening to report her to all and sundry for all sorts of random things - he says her rubbish bin is the wrong colour (it isn't), she is faking her disabilities (🙄), she hoovers too late at night (her cleaner is there only 10am-11am twice a week), she takes drugs (only her normal prescription meds), and loads more absurd accusations.

I have called 101 and am waiting for someone to call back. I am hoping a visit from the police will make Nasty Neighbour leave Aunt alone.

Ps I did check with the council again and they said that they do not usually put in disabled bays for people that have off street parking but it could happen. The person I spoke to was still non committal about who requested this disabled space but I think it must have been because of Aunt's request. I'm not sure what to do now to prove it. Maybe we can put in another request and if they say that they approved a request before and she cannot have two then we will know. She is too worried to use the space but I want her to as she would really benefit from it. She is in her 70s and I can't see things getting easier for her.

I see you’ve contacted 101. They should hopefully send a PCSO out. They may be able to get to the bottom of it. However, your aunt is legally entitled to park there and the PCSO will tell your neighbour to stop bullying her. If it continues, you need to keep complaining. This is the sort of thing people get ASBOs for if it gets too bad.

It’s a legal argument over a moral argument isn’t it? He legally has no right to stop other disabled badge holders use the space however morally, if he is more in need of it than your aunt, one might argue he has the right to feel frustrated. Particularly if he went to the effort of requesting it.

On street disabled bays are never for the exclusive use of one resident.
I had the same issue with a neighbour at our previous house, who believed the bay was there for her use only and sent her sons to deal with me when I parked there (with a valid blue badge).
Funnily enough, she had a driveway too, she didn't like to park there as the birds in (her) tree would shit on her car.

He isn't. He has off street parking.