On street disabled parking bay

[dori2o]

Hi, I've posted this on another forum but I wanted to see if anyone here had an opinion.

 

I want to ask this question on behalf of a family member. They have severe mobility issues and can barely walk due to several issues with back (pused vertibae, bulging disks and spinal tumors pushing on central nerves) and and legs.

 

In February 2013 they applied for a Disabled Parking bay to be laid on the road outside their home. The house has no parking facilities it is an old terraced house with a small courtyard to the rear and a small yard at the front.

 

There are yellow lines directly outside their house which stop in front of their next door neighbour.

 

The permission for the bay was finally granted in Feb 2014 after the next door but one neighbour put in an objection to the bay as it would be partly in front of their house. it is not a sole use bay. Our council do not provide sole use bays.

 

It was laid in March 2014.

 

To my family members suprise they returned from work one day just after the bay had been painted to find next door but one parked in the bay. In the windscreen of the car was a Blue Badge. Upon checking with the council they confirmed that the badge was legitamate and that the next door but one neighbour had attended an assessment for the badge earlier that year.

 

There has been some animosity regarding the bay. The neighbour would go out as soon as my family member had mooved the car to go to work or just to the shop and put their car in the parking space.

 

They (next door but one) stopped using the car at weekend and started using a taxi t do their shopping just so that they didn't lose the bay.

 

At the end of November 2014 something happened with next door but one and they stopped using the car altogether. It is parked in the disabled bay and has not moved since the 3rd week in November. We don't know if they have retired from work, have become ill, etc etc.

 

Last week we noticed another car on the street and couldn't work out who it belonged to. It turns out it belongs to next door but one. They are now using this new car t go out daily and leaving the old car in the parking bay, essentially blocking the bay.

 

They don't take the badge ut of the old car as obviously they would get a ticket.

 

My family member is very upset about this as they are struggling to park the car close to the house and often have to leave it on an adjacent street whilst the neighbour uses a 2nd car which they don't seem to have any problems getting to or in and out of.

 

We don't know what to do, if in fact we can do anything.

 

Any advice wuld be much appreciated.

[dx100uk]

that is not very nice at all.

 

 

have you spoken to the council about this.

 

 

I would esp the bit about the car being there from November and not moving.

 

 

I assume its taxed/MOT'd/insured..askmid site might help?

 

 

cant see why they'd keep paying all those if its not in use

 

 

dx

 

 

 

 

dx

[Jamberson]

The blue badge they are using is for the use of the disabled person. If someone else is using it to park the car there, then there might be steps the council could take - warn that their badge could be withdrawn for instance.

 

Aside from that, it sounds like you need another bay. Any BB holder can use them - and the situation is, you still have nowhere to park. So you need another bay. That's back to the council again.

[dori2o]

Their car is insured and taxed.

 

I've emailed the department at the council who deals with these issues.

 

 

Couldn't phone them as there is no number for the public to call.

 

 

I've explained that they are blocking the bay and asked for their advice,

or if there is nothing I can do about it asked them to send me a new application form so I can complete it for the person in question.

 

 

I also asked if they would consider a sole user bay rather than just a standard disabled bay.

[green_and_mean]

Why not just park on the yellow lines?

[ploddertom]

If they now have 2 cars then the chances are they may also park the other one if a another bay is made. Be intersting to note that if the car left parked has a BB do they have another for the other vehicle - how do they cope when they go out.

[dori2o]

If they now have 2 cars then the chances are they may also park the other one if a another bay is made. Be intersting to note that if the car left parked has a BB do they have another for the other vehicle - how do they cope when they go out.

They definately don't have a badge for the other one.

 

I'm going to send a letter to the Blue Badge team at the council and let them decide if what they are doing is against the Blue Badge rules.

[dori2o]

Why not just park on the yellow lines?

You can only park on the lines for a max of 3 hours which is no good as the car is generally stood for longer than 3 hours.

[ploddertom]

They definately don't have a badge for the other one.

 

I'm going to send a letter to the Blue Badge team at the council and let them decide if what they are doing is against the Blue Badge rules.

 

If they don't use one for the other car does that mean to say the BB Hlder can manage to get around OK - if so then possibly they have failed to notify a change in their condition.

[Stigman]

Have you checked closely to ensure that the Blue Badge is fully legitimate and not a knocked up Carbon Copy of their original Blue Badge which they are using on car number 2?

 

Stigman

[JoeyJoeC]

Hope this gets sorted, has genuinely made me angry.

 

Had a neighbor dump an old car outside my sisters house when she was pregnant and had 2 kids to deal with. We asked if he could move it down to the bottom of the hill (Closer to his house where there are empty spaces), and just said no he can't and left it there for around a year without moving it.

[SabreSheep]

Does sound like legitimized anti social behavior to me.

[green_and_mean]

Does sound like legitimized anti social behavior to me.

 

 

A blue badge holder parking a car in a blue badge bay is hardly anti social why should one BB holder have any more priority than another?

[2ltr16valve]

A blue badge holder parking a car in a blue badge bay is hardly anti social why should one BB holder have any more priority than another?

 

Because they are doing it maliciously to prevent the OP using the bay, and then using another vehicle for their needs - without the badge.

So do they really need the badge ? ..

[green_and_mean]

Because they are doing it maliciously to prevent the OP using the bay, and then using another vehicle for their needs - without the badge.

So do they really need the badge ? ..

 

 

 

Ok lets all come to a conclusion based on a 2nd hand account from someone who is obviously not on best terms with a neighbour.

[SabreSheep]

I did say "legalised" meaning nothingi llegal about it.

 

Amd yes, we tend to have to take the op at face value on most threads.

[dori2o]

A blue badge holder parking a car in a blue badge bay is hardly anti social why should one BB holder have any more priority than another?

As it stands I'm not suggesting that we should have priority. I'm miffed at the fact that we did all the donkey work to get the bay and our family member is now completely unable to use it as it's being (deliberately IMO) blocked. But he was happy with the previous first come first served arrangement.

 

When he was unable to drive for 2 weeks last year we told the woman that he was going to have the car moved to the car park at the back of the houses opposite our house so that he wasn't blocking the bay. He wasn't using the car so had no need for it to be close to home and he's the only driver. She said she appreciated that and we thought that all was OK. It was when he started being able to drive again that the problems started.

 

If she's not using her car for whatever reason, whether its because her son is now taking her t and from work, whether it's because she's not able to drive it, whether it's because she no longer works and so doesn't go out everyday, then surely she should do as he did and park her car in the car park. It's about being socially responsible.

 

Her car has not moved for months now. She had a mechanic out to it in December and he replaced the battery. I know as I was getting out of my car as he was there talking to her. We had assumed that after Christmas she was then going to start using the car again but she hasn't. Her son takes her wherever she needs to go including shopping which she stopped doing in her car last year if she was parked in the bay at weekend. If it was she would get her son to do it and get a taxi home, if our family member was in the bay she would go shopping in the car.

 

IMO it is an abuse of the bay but I've had no response from the Traffic department at the council following my email.

 

The other issue now is that they now have this 2nd car. Thats fine, we can't and never would dream of trying to stop him having a car, but now this means there is even less available parking space in an already overcrowded street, so whilst they could have 2 cars parked in the street, one in the bay and one in front of the bay, our family member often end up in adjacent streets or if he's very lucky on the small car park behind the houses on the opposite side of the road. This means he cannot see his car from the house on most nights. (Possible insurance issue)

 

We have a good mind to call the council and ask for the bay to be removed and then nobody has a right to use it, but then our family member is adversely affected and still no better off.

 

I think our only hope is to email the council again and simply ask for a new application form and if necessary go to appeal and get the backing of MP/local councilors to have the bay placed over the yellow lines outside the house.

 

As a general rule we don't speak to anyone in the street unless necessary. Not in a rude/ignorant way but we keep ourselves to ourselves and don't get involved in any tensions. We helped last year as much as possible with clearing out the backings behind our house. It's an old terrace with a cobbled ginnel behind the houses and then a railway (Metrolink trams) behind that. We helped along with all the neighbours including next-door-but-ones son. (Our family member couldn't do much but hold rubbish bags open and supply water/drinks etc due to limitations with mobility). We don't then understand where this tension from them has come from.

[Jamberson]

You need a second bay. That will solve it, I think. They presumably only have one Blue Badge, so can't occupy two bays. I think that's your best bet.

[2ltr16valve]

Can you not have a drive and dropped kerb ?

[dori2o]

Can you not have a drive and dropped kerb ?

Unfortunately not, it's a 130yr old Terraced house with a small front yard and there is no access to the rear for vehicles (not wide enough)

[dori2o]

You need a second bay. That will solve it, I think. They presumably only have one Blue Badge, so can't occupy two bays. I think that's your best bet.

Just the one badge.

 

I think you are right. I just hope it's not another 2 year wait like it was last time.

 

With my luck they'll put in an objection to the new application just to annoy me.

[dori2o]

I just thought I would update.

 

We've so far had no response from the department at the council who deals with this following our email last week so I've sent a further one direct to the leader of the council.

 

I've also sent a copy of the original email to the department which deals with blue badges. We were advised to do this by a guy who used to be a local councillor. Hopefully they will come back with something.

 

Hopefully we'll now get some form f response even if it is a 'Tough Luck' message at least then we'll know where we stand and I can help my family member to fill in a new application.

 

Thanks for the advice so far.

[sameagle]

Try speaking to you local councillor.

 

The "faceless wonders" in the Town Hall don't like it when a councillor appears, and starts asking questions.

 

Worth a try?

 

Sam