Forum Topic

Re blue badge parkig bays

I cant believe what i have just read about the permit for blue badge holders for the parking bay outside there house I have a bay outside my house so the idea of not putting my blue badge in the car all the time is a good one because of the theft problem but we pay for our blue badge which was £2.00 for three years  from January this will be £10.00 for three years I have not got a problem with that but I think to then charge me £30.00 a year for this new permit. I no times are hard and we have all got to help but it seems that this council has just come up with the idea of getting more money out of us £30.00 for one year is a joke no one will pay that when all you have got to do is leave your blue badge on display I just think there intend to charge you for your bay in the future anyway what do you think

Harold John Ward ● 5025d16 Comments

The increases do seem a bit steep.Does a Blue Badge holder automatically have the right to have a Parking Bay outside their house?

Gerry Tan ● 5025d

No and I would not have one simply because of the need to keep my Blue Badge in the car and on display all the time -I like my windows thanks.

Nigel Brooks ● 5025d

You have a point - an elderly neoghbour of mine, now dead, had his car broken into in the BB space outside his house one night just for the Badge.

Chris Veasey ● 5025d

I've noticed the apparent mis-use of Blue Badges by sprightly usually younger individuals, parking in The High Street near M&S in W5.What are the regulations and conditions of use for these Blue Badges?

Gerry Tan ● 5024d

There may well be some blatant misuse, but at least some of the individuals concerned could (a) be parking up to go and meet and pick up the Badge holder or have dropped them off nearer to their destination somewhere nearby and have gone to the High Street bays to park up before walking back to join them (I often have to do this sort of thing myself) or (b) be suffering from a serious condition like multiple sclerosis whose effects can vary unpredictably from day today, leaving a sufferer deceptively apparently agile one day but seriously impairing them other times.The essential rules are that the badge can only be used in connection with the Badge holder's travel needs - it's certainly not a free parking pass for other members of their family or friends making unaccompanied trips on any occasion. Also parking using the Badge must be in lawful, safe and non-obstructive locations.ie common sense and reasonable behaviour.

Chris Veasey ● 5024d

Sums it up very well Chris.Mine was issued due to severe mobility problems. I know a young man who, outwardly, shows no sign of disability but who has multiple and complex medical problems which prevent him living a 'full' life and which vary widely from day to day.What hacks me off are those who simply park in a disabled bay with neither a pretence of disability nor any badge.Believe me if I could walk to 'normal' distance from a parking bay I would.

Nigel Brooks ● 5024d

Absolutely - you know only too well that the Blue Badge concession is no substitute for painless full mobility, not some monstrous privilege.Even worse in those truly monstrously privileged 'central' London boroughs (City, Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, and south Camden) which are exempt from the national Blue Badge scheme and where it can be a real nightmare finding one of the very sparse national Blue Badge parking spaces anywhere near one's (or one's disabled passenger's) destination - how unaccompanied Blue Badge holders driving themselves manage when having to visit those areas I can't imagine. It's an absolute outrage, blatant discrimination against disabled outsiders, and should be abolished and those areas brought fully into the national system.Yes the blatant misuse of Blue Badge parking spaces by some is galling, though with serious on-street enforcement nowadays more widespread in private car parks such as at supermarkets - I like the idea of the notice suggested by some radio comic: "Abusers will be made eligible".

Chris Veasey ● 5024d

I like that.There is a 'dodge' in Westminster if you only want to park there for an hour.Register for 'pay by phone' parking this costs nothing.https://www.verrus.com/westminster/registration.aspxWhen you park buy one whole minute (yes it's so damned expensive that they sell it in one minute 'chunks').This buys you 61 minutes (the paid minute and 60 minutes free for disabled customers if any paid parking is purchased) of parking.I used this three times this year and have the £0.06 and £0.07 entries on my credit card to prove it!

Nigel Brooks ● 5024d

Goodness me, had no idea of that - thanks!The other alternative there, if your destination is near a Red Route, is that there is much more generous provision of Blue Badge (or shared Loading/ Blue Badge) bays on Red Routes (though not everywhere, and in some cases not during peak hours) than in the local hinterland streets - which is absolutely daft but that was the ruling imposed from on high on those preparing the Red Route schemes even in central London, while the exemption from the Blue Badge scheme on all other streets in the area was allowed to comtinue unabated.

Chris Veasey ● 5024d

no you have to apply to the council for one and there decide weather you can have one or not

Harold John Ward ● 5024d

Be very careful though on 'Loading Bays'. If the Loading Bay has 'Goods Vehicles Only' added on even a tiny sign then Blue Badge exemptions do NOT apply even if you are loading or unloading from a car.This I found to my (£60) cost on King Street Hammersmith - I simplt didn't notice the very small 'Goods Vehicles Only' plate half way up the pole .

Nigel Brooks ● 5024d

Yes, generally specifically Loading bays on streets that aren't Red Routes are not available for Blue Badge parking - on Red Routes most are, but not all so you need to check what the sugnplate says to be sure.

Chris Veasey ● 5024d

I am with broken leg at the moment and am on crutches. Whilst not disabled, I would not say no to a temporary Blue Badge for my visits to the shops with the wife. Last Sunday, we visited PC World on the Great West Road and the car park was busy as you'd expect for this time of year. We parked in a normal spot and I hobbled on my crutches and just as we neared the entrance, by the empty disabled spots, a white van pulls into one of the disabled spots and jumps out. I give him the filthiest look imaginable which prompts him to ask me what my issue is - I told him and he told me to "f**king mind my own business". I won't bore you with the rest of our encounter but suffice to say I very much held my own. People like this are all too familiar now and are vermin and bullies - you need to stand up to them.Also, I know from an acquaintance who is in his mid 30's, perfectly fit and well, that he borrows his father’s Blue Badge when visiting Ealing and other congested areas so as to get in and out quickly. I have pointed out to him all the points of why this is wrong to no avail.Some people....

Bud Richards ● 5024d

Sorry to hear about your broken leg Bud, I wish you a speedy recovery.Sadly, your experience with 'white van man' is typical of the brain dead morons who park in disabled bays (you may gather that I don't lie them). Blue Badges aren't available on a temporary basis. Councils used to be able to issue discretionary badges but the scheme is now centrally administered and one needs to provide proof of long-term impairment so hopefully, and please take no offence, the 'one day limpers' who were able to convince Ealing Council of their 'need' will not get renewals.

Nigel Brooks ● 5024d

No offence taken Nigel - I completely agree with you. If this service was available it would definitely be abused by the countless unscrupulous that walk among us...

Bud Richards ● 5021d

"the countless unscrupulous that walk among us".Intentional or not Bud, in the context of Blue Badges, that's brilliant!

Nigel Brooks ● 5021d