Blue badge parking permits to cover 'hidden disabilities' in England

The Department for Transport  have said that blue badge parking permits are to be made available for people in England with "hidden disabilities" such as autism or mental health problems from next year.

The current rules do not explicitly exclude hidden disabilities, however councils' interpretations can vary.

Similar changes have come into effect in Scotland and Wales.
When the changes to the blue badge scheme in England are introduced, they will extend eligibility to:

• people who cannot make a journey without "a risk of serious harm to their health and safety" or that of others, such as young children with autism
• people for whom travel causes "very considerable psychological distress"
• and those with considerable difficulty walking, meaning "both the physical act and experience of walking"

Currently about 2.4 million disabled people in England have a blue badge as part of the system that was introduced in 1970 costing £10 in order to make access easier for disabled people.

It allow holders to park for free in pay-and-display spaces across the UK and for up to three hours on yellow lines.

The blue badge concessions do not apply to privately-run car parks. They also can not be used in central London, where residents need to apply for a special permit, although they do provide an exemption from the congestion charge.



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Crackdown on illegal parking as council take control

For years drivers in North Somerset have parked illegally without the fear of finding a parking ticket. However the council has now taken over enforcement of double yellow lines and disabled bays from the police.

 

The council is hoping a clampdown on the streets of the streets of Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon and Portishead will free up spaces for people who genuinely need them.

One wheelchair user said, "sometimes when you go into places like supermarkets, and people have parked in there, if you do go and tackle them, they can be quite abusive."

The wardens here have spent the last two weeks handing out over a thousand (blue) warning notices to people that have been parked illegally.

If the equivalent number of £70 fines were to have been given out, it could have netted up to £70,000 for the council.

 

Allan Taylor, Parking Services Manager for North Somerset Council, said "Invariably, we will be giving out more fines but I think very quickly the public will change their behaviour."

"Very shortly we will have places available for loading bays, for lorry drivers, for people to unload, disabled bays for disabled people and no parking where it could be dangerous or hold up traffic."

In the first few hours of the new enforcement rules, the team has issued 50 £70 fines. The council says it's a small price to pay for keeping these roads clear.

 

Driver wakes up to £110 parking ticket after council paint disabled bay AROUND his car overnight

Image: SWNS.com

When Matt Armstrong found his car parked in a disabled bay outside his home, he assumed he was the victim of an elaborate prank - because it wasn't there the night before.

Matt had parked his car lawfully on the road outside his south London home before bed, so was stunned to find Lambeth Council had painted the bay around his Renault Clio overnight.

Matt failed to see the funny side as he had been slapped with a whopping £110 fine due to the car being parked illegally.

The bay had been requested for Matt's neighbours husband more than two years previously — unfortunately he died earlier this year and she had called Lambeth council several times to cancel.

He said: "They put in this disabled bay which no one needs, painted it under my back wheels and then gave me a parking ticket.

"What can I do but pay the fine and hope to repeal it. If you don’t pay you get clamped or towed away"

Lambeth council confirmed Mr Armstrong’s fine had been cancelled after the authority was contacted by the Evening Standard.

A spokeswoman said: "We’ll cancel the fixed penalty notice and are investigating why there was some confusion around the marking of the disabled bays."

 For the fuller story and more images please visit mirror.co.uk