cuckoo in disabled parking bay!

[citizenkain]

I am asking this question this question for a friend who is disabled,he has a blue badge,his problem is in the street where he lives in west london there is limited parking,there is a disabled bay he manages tp park in at the end of his road now and then it is a single disabled bay.

When he started parking there some other person in the street put a sticker on the window telling him to park at the side,this he did,another vehicle parked there with no blue badge. Now,on a regular basis there are two vehicles parked side by side in the disabled bay neither of which have blue badges.

He contacted the local council,housing for help,they sent someone out,this person reported there were two vehicles parked there with blue badges and that was the end of the matter!! My friend has pictures of the vehicles parked there without blue badges,he thinks they belong to a local business,obviously someone is getting a bung,what can he do now?

[seftonview]

He has a number of options:-

 

1. Make an application to the local highway authority for a disabled parking bay outside his home,

 

2. Make a complaint to the local authority under Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act (I have done this previously [and won] regarding disabled parking) for their failure to adequately enforce etc.

 

If it were me, I would seriously both.

 

Of course, I and others on CAG can assist

 

SV

[roger_37]

hi seftonview,

thanks for advice .have sent letter to council.

will keep u posted

thanks

[seftonview]

Roger - are you the friend that the OP was referring to?

 

If so, what have you asked them for?

[roger_37]

Dear roger_37

 

This matter was investigated by Hounslow Homes under reference 190100. The officer investigating reported the following:

site has been visited and noted that on 16th december there were two car parked in the disabled bay and both were holding disabled badges. did see a large van parked not far from the bays. this van belongs to dray buildings ltd, tel no. 8749 9293 reg no. V678 LVC

No further action was deemed necessary at this time.

 

Regards

 

Paul

Customer Service Centre

[seftonview]

In order to help you I need to see the letter that you wrote to them.

[roger_37]

hi I would like to draw attention about the disscrasefull way disabled bays are treated in scott gardens. I am a blue badge holder and I cannot get parked in a disabled bay in scot gardens, at least two cars are parked in 1 bay as photo I have attached.

I would hope this problem can be sorted a s a p

yours respectfully

[citizenkain]

Yeah,that will do it roger,its very unfair the way your council operates,if thats the letter you sent its short and to the point.

But its proving the problem that is difficult,I find it unbelievable myself that some people will just park in a disabled spot and leave some poor sod on crutches to drag themselves home,perhaps in the rain,snow,it makes my blood boil,gosh Im angry now

[roger_37]

hi citizenkain.

thank you for u kind comments,

i will keep fighting this, its just a matter of what to do next.

roger

[EYEBALLS01]

Good luck Roger as you`ll see from my post `Blue Badge Scheme` I sympathise fully. I know it may be difficult but if you`ve got a digital camera why not take daily photos and bombard the council with them. As you probably know you can time and date them.

[roger_37]

thank you eyeballs01.

yes i am taking photoes as often as i can get out,

which is not daily, but doing my best.

roger

[roger_37]

still cuchooes in disabled bays,don,t know what to do any help?!!!!!

[kiptower]

does the bay have a Pole stating it is a "DISABLED BAY" a lot of Councils will mark of bays for residents as "courtersy bays" no pole, that way the Council save money because they dont apply for TRO, and infact anyone can park in that bay without getting a ticket, if a TRO Order is not in place

[roger_37]

hi kiptower,ty for help,

the bay does not have a pole(not sure what that is) it has ground markings sheverons and symbol of disabled on bay.

im sorry i don,t know what t r o is help

roger

[kiptower]

the standard poles that show traffic signs

 

a courtesy bay, which is a painted white box with "disabled" written on the highway, is not enforceable. A disabled bay with a legal order, which is a permanent bay, again with a painted white box with "disabled" written on the highway, along with a pole and sign saying "disabled parking only" or similar, is enforceable.

[JonCris]

Failing to enforce even a 'courtesy' disabled bay where there is clear abuse may in some way constitute a disability discrimination offence by the authority.

 

If they refuse to act then threaten them with an action for discrimination. At the very least they hate the thought of such matters reaching the media;)

[kiptower]

JC i went down that road to try and stop evey tom dick and harry, answer from the Council in the end was they would just remove it, as its not covered by the DDA, as it is a courtersy facility they offer

[seftonview]

JC i went down that road to try and stop evey tom dick and harry, answer from the Council in the end was they would just remove it, as its not covered by the DDA, as it is a courtersy facility they offer

 

They were wrong, and if you accepted this at face value you were a little gullible.

[JonCris]

I agree with Sefton the discrimination has already happened You've been conned.

 

Anyway so what if they did remove it it's not doing you any good as things are is it.

 

Call their bluff tell them that despite their obvious attempts at blackmail your going ahead with your compliant

[kiptower]

I actually took this via local MP , and she went right into it but came back and said that its not covered under the DDA but should be, the Council even checked the DDA ruling on it,

 

its similar how certain london boroughs can treat disabled driver different to the rest of the country, kensington, westminster and camden

 

as for me now i dont use the bay car is kept in a garage

[JonCris]

I'm not sure what you mean by "they checked the DD 'ruling' on it" Are you saying there's already a ruling on this particular bay or a general ruling involving such bays. If the latter ask them to quote it or at least identify it for us ALL to see as it's news to me that a ruling exists involving disabled bays of any sort

Edited January 14, 2009 by JonCris

[kiptower]

I went right into this a few years back

 

it is very clear in LAW if it does not have a TMO it "cannot be enforced" I even contacted what was then the Disability Discrimination Commision ( now disbanded thanks to our goverment ) who also said that unless there is a TMO they cannot take the matter up , but they had recomended that ALL concesion bays should have a TMO, BUT because it costs £400+ per application to get the TMO Councils were not prepared to spend such money, our council alone has some 1000 + of these courtersy bays.

 

as you will see down a bit Scotland is already taking the matter up

 

from our councils website,

 

Disabled parking bays

 

 

There are two types of residential disabled parking bay provided in Lewisham:

1 Formal (statutory) bay

 

This bay is legally enforceable and in addition to the marking on the carriageway includes a post and sign. It requires the making of a traffic order and therefore involves significant administration and much greater cost to install.

2 Informal disabled bay

 

This has no legal force but comprises a marking on the carriageway and the word 'disabled'. It acts as a reminder to neighbours and visitors to respect the needs of the disabled resident.

However, since these bays are unenforceable they cannot be used in a controlled parking zone, because it is likely that they would be regarded as free space.

Suspension of disabled parking bays

 

If you are moving house, and would like your disabled parking bay suspended, please contact Parking Services on the number below.

 

 

 

 

to cover scotland

 

you will see the Law maybe changed

 

The Scottish Parliament - Local Government and Communities Committee Report

[citizenkain]

So when is a disabled bay not a disabled bay?,when there aint a pole near it with a sign saying disabled bay!

Personally,I would never park in a disabled bay,sure as eggs is eggs even if ya did it for a couple a minutes you would come back and see some poor sod struggling,you would die of embarrassment as everyone watched you springing into your car!! But some folk are like that I suppose,maybe we could get a petition going nationwide to make all disabled bays legitimate and above board!

[roger_37]

hi all just an update on disabled parking bays.

i parked in disabled bay in front of me house last night,

another disabled car blocked my car in bay could,nt get out.

i called police who came out some time later,they contacted neighbour

he,e disabled cops said they had a word with him n said he would move to let me out any time .

so now i have to knock on a door to get my car out.

this cant be right help!!!!!!

roger

[kiptower]

Roger

 

contact your councils Blue badge section, report what he has done and that the police were called etc , he will get a warning , which is kept on record against the issue of his blue badge, even though he may have asked the council to put the original bay in , you should also tell them of his/family antics regarding the bay and that he thinks he owns it,

 

but think first i saw similar with a friend and a neighbour of his both had blue badges, then one night mates car got done with paint stripper ( was done twice in 4 weeks total damge was over £3k ) typical police nothing could be proved