my local council has put a disabled bay outside my house with the word DISABLED painted on it

i have found out it is only classed as a courtesy bay and any one can park in it even people with out blue badges

how do i get this put right--thank you.

its not an enforceable bay until there is a post put there with disabled/blue badge only,you need to see the council for that

There is no such thing as a 'courtesy bay'

there is no provision in the regulations for such road markings.

Its either a 'disabled only bay'

which is missing a time plate

which the Council should rectify,

or its an unlawfully painted bay

which the Council has a legal obligation to remove.

There are some advisory road markings such as 'keep clear'

or the 'H' bars on drop kerbs but advisory disabled bays are unlawful.

There is no such thing as a 'courtesy bay' there is no provision in the regulations for such road markings. Its either a 'disabled only bay' which is missing a time plate which the Council should rectify, or its an unlawfully painted bay which the Council has a legal obligation to remove. There are some advisory road markings such as 'keep clear' or the 'H' bars on drop kerbs but advisory disabled bays are unlawful.

i thank you for your kind reply i will follow your instructions--thank you--nedw

i thank you for your kind reply i will follow your instructions--thank you--ned

Stoke on Trent council painted one on the road outside my friends house.

She is disabled, full rate dla, mobility, the lot.

The letter that she had, which informed her that it was to be painted for her, mentioned that although it was for her convenience, any other motorist could use it, if they wished, disabled or not.

She lives in a small cul de sac, where there is little traffic other than the locals, and for the last nine years, it had been respected, 100 per cent, which is very refreshing!

Sam

There is no such thing as a 'courtesy bay' there is no provision in the regulations for such road markings. Its either a 'disabled only bay' which is missing a time plate which the Council should rectify, or its an unlawfully painted bay which the Council has a legal obligation to remove. There are some advisory road markings such as 'keep clear' or the 'H' bars on drop kerbs but advisory disabled bays are unlawful.

Isn't it unenforceable rather than unlawful ie it's advisory, relying on the goodwill of other motorists not to park there, but no penalty can be imposed on drivers of cars not displaying a Blue Badge who abuse them.

Can you clarify your assertion that the Council has a legal obligation to remove them.

Found this , but is there similar legislation for England?:

Disabled Persons' Parking Places (Scotland) Act 2009

2 Limitation of local authorities' powers in relation to advisory parking places for disabled persons' vehicles

 

A local authority has no power—

 

(a)to designate an advisory disabled street parking place, except in accordance with section 9;

9 Designation of a temporary parking place where a request has been made under section 5

 

(1)If a local authority is required by section 5(3)(b) to start the statutory procedure for the making of a disabled street parking order in respect of a parking place, it must as soon as reasonably practicable designate the parking place as an advisory disabled street parking place.

 

 

(2)When that statutory procedure ends, the designation of the parking place under subsection (1) is automatically revoked.

 

 

(3)If the result of that statutory procedure is that no disabled street parking order is made in respect of the parking place, the authority must remove any road-markings or sign posts indicating that the parking place is for use only by a disabled persons' vehicle.

thank you for your reply-

--my problem with my disabled parking bay is it seems anyone can park in it -

--some weeks ago a taxi driver that lives close parked in my disabled bay that i had paid for it has the disabled word painted on it-

--as i do not speak to this person

i called the police to ask them to please ask him to move his taxi

his reply was that the bay is not classed as a disabled bay but classed as a courtesy bay

and he did not have any notion to move his taxi-

-the police phoned me back to inform me of his reply

--the problem now is my wife or myself can not go out to do any shopping at all now

because this taxi person takes every chance he can get to park in the disabled bay-

--i phoned my council some time later and they informed me to make my bay legal would cost thousands of pounds

ie to put up a blue badge on a pole stating the bay was only for disabled badge holders only-

-my council is gloucester council council-

--i have mentioned this to several people and they all said the council advice is wrong

so i am at the stage now where we do not know what to do--

-i am very ill and also a pensioner who do i turn to now-

-thank you for any reply.

nedw

Useful information you may want to try read, ask questions to the local authority,and to understand

http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/search?q=disabled+parking+bay&go=Go

It clearly implies there is a procedure to get a parking bay installed (Or was in 2009) but im struggling to find out how you would apply. maybe you should talk to your local mp

It's a bit underhanded but you might try talking to either the firm the driver works for, and to the Licencing department at the council. While there's not a lot legally it seems they can do, maybe if you make it a nuisance of yourself from every side he'll find it less handy for him to park in :-\

i have already approached the council to complain about the taxi guy parking in my disabled space

it has made a bit of a difference ie he now leaves me enough room to get out

but if i,m out shopping he will still park in my space

i contacted the council highways and the guy there told me i was a nuisance and hung up on me

i also approached my mp not any help there at all-

--maybe 2015 will be a better year.

Isn't it unenforceable rather than unlawful ie it's advisory, relying on the goodwill of other motorists not to park there, but no penalty can be imposed on drivers of cars not displaying a Blue Badge who abuse them.

 

Can you clarify your assertion that the Council has a legal obligation to remove them.

 

Traffic signs manual chapter 1

1.15 Authorities may only use signs– including carriageway markings–of a size, colour and type prescribed or specially authorised by the Secretary of State, The prescribed signs are included in The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/3113/schedule/19/paragraph/25/made

The 1028.3 may only be placed on the highway in conjunction with the appropriate sign usually 661a

Yes I understand they can only use prescribed or authorised signs if they want to able to enforce them.

Councils readily admit they can't enforce advisory markings, but that doesn't mean they're not allowed by law to mark out such bays.

If a Council has a legal obligation to remove them, presumably there is legislation that requires them to do so?

Is the disabled bay adjacent to a dropped footway that serves your drive/property? I ask because you posted earlier that he now leaves you enough room to get out.

Yes I understand they can only use prescribed or authorised signs if they want to able to enforce them.

 

Councils readily admit they can't enforce advisory markings, but that doesn't mean they're not allowed by law to mark out such bays.

 

If a Council has a legal obligation to remove them, presumably there is legislation that requires them to do so?

Only prescribed markings can be used ie TSRGD, NOTHING else can be painted on the road. The link I posted clearly states that a disabled bay may ONLY be painted if accompanied by the correct timeplate, nowhere in the regulations does it give an exemption just because they don't want to enforce it. The Council has a legal duty to maintain the highway and that includes ensuring any road markings comply with the law.

The Department of Transport seems to disagree, although they don't recommend them, they certainly don't prohibit them.

Traffic Advisory Leaflet 5/95:

Advisory bays are not backed by an Order, but can offer some flexibility for faster implementation where competition for parking space is comparatively low and there are no other parking restrictions. On the other hand they cannot be enforced and reduce respect for reserved parking bays. The Department of Transport does not recommend advisory bays and they are not included in TSRGD.

The Department of Transport seems to disagree, although they don't recommend them, they certainly don't prohibit them.

 

 

Traffic Advisory Leaflet 5/95:

Indeed they don't as they have no powers to do so, however the law does prohibit them the TSRGD 2002 was made law 7 years after your leaflet was issued. How is a driver meant to know if regulatory signs are backed by a traffic order or not? Using your logic Councils can paint advisory yellow lines provided no timeplate is used which is simply not the case.