blue badge for parking

[Ironside]

This has got to be one of the most tilting threads i've read. Ever. Come on, really?

For every negative that you've brought up about having to pay and how much better able-bodied people have it, people have suggested several benefits you will get from having a badge. My mum used to have one of those badges and it was awesome, the amount of advantages you get from one is brilliant... you can get away with parking almost anywhere. Paying £20 for getting to pretty much park where you want and have special bays made and access made available as well as staff putting in admin time to sort of paperwork for these things to exist, it's nothing.

Fair enough if it was like £150+ i might be a bit pissed off, but people on benefits and pensions etc can afford sky and holidays etc, so £7 a year isnt going to do much damage is it? It's less than 2p a day. Anyone with one will make this money back so quickly via the free parking available it's unreal.

Also if you are going to contest it (which seems absurd to me, but hey ho) definitely don't just refuse to pay and build up fines. This will only hurt you and your family. If you're passionate about it, which it seems you are, then go through the appropriate channels.

If poker doesn't work out for you there will always be a job at the Daily Mail.

Lol didn't mean it to come across quite like that, but £20 for this isn't going to be the thing that tips people over the edge, even just for an admin fee that is very reasonable, for anyone.

only benifit i get from a badge and only one i want is too be able too park in a bay wide enough for me too open my door fully so i can get in and out

only car parking places i get free where others pay  is council car parks which are the worst places espically for the disabled and even abled bodied people dont use them much dispite the price being lowered too £1

every useful car park around here is owned buy ncp ( everyone has too pay) or a supermarket/out of center shopping mall which are free too everyone
i cant park on dbl yellow lines without risking my life as i would have too get out onto the road ( i cant get out onto a pavement if you think about it)

i just want a place too park the same as everyone else and i dont think i should have too pay for that right when everyone else get the right too park without having too pay an advanced fee

how would you guys feel if they asked people with a certain letter on there number plate too pay a fee what no one else had too otherwise they couldnt park too me that the same difference. with the fact there is no traffic wardens working in the area anymore and the out of center places not having any one in car parks it make the whole thing null and void now anyway nobody is ever going too question me using a blue badge bay when i roll up in my chair and as i am not planning of travelling anywhere in near future due to health

[redarmi]

That's not the case though is it.  You do receive benefits from it albeit ones that you don't want to use like the free parking at council sites.  Better parking spots more convenient etc.  The fact that you don't want or need them is irrespective as you get them.  You get on street parking for free, you can park on double or single yellow lines for up to three hours.  These are all major benefits and not just for you but for all disabled people including those that make full use of them.  It would create a bureaucratic nightmare to allow you to opt in and out as you please so you are asked to pay a small fee.  Is that really so unreasonable given the extensive rights and privileges it gives you?  Do you think that the ordinary taxpayer should foot that bill?  If not who do you think should pay it?

[Ironside]

That's not the case though is it.  You do receive benefits from it albeit ones that you don't want to use like the free parking at council sites.  Better parking spots more convenient etc.  The fact that you don't want or need them is irrespective as you get them.  You get on street parking for free, you can park on double or single yellow lines for up to three hours.  These are all major benefits and not just for you but for all disabled people including those that make full use of them.  It would create a bureaucratic nightmare to allow you to opt in and out as you please so you are asked to pay a small fee.  Is that really so unreasonable given the extensive rights and privileges it gives you?  Do you think that the ordinary taxpayer should foot that bill?  If not who do you think should pay it?

all i want is too be treated like any other driver i dont want any benifits i just want the right too park and without paying £20 for a badge i cant park as car parking spaces are not wide enough

too me its the same as having a ramped entrance too a building too allow me equal access i just want equal access too parking whats next £20 fee too be allowed too use a ramp?

[Marky147]

Unfortunately we don't get treated like every driver Iron, and that's mainly because we're not like them. We have needs which others do not, so for that we require something which fulfills these needs and distinguishes us from people who don't have the problems we do.

Luckily they have something which does all this, it's called a blue badge and to be honest I actually thought we had to pay for them before now. What they should have done, is to increase the cost of our cars by a couple quid a month and then nobody would be any wiser.

As it stands, they've been upfront about it, and I am really struggling to comprehend why you have taken such umbrage over it...

[RED-DOG]

There is none so blind as them what won't listen.

[celtic]

There is none so blind as them what won't listen.

Delboy's mum. Circa 1986.

[celtic]

That's not the case though is it.  You do receive benefits from it albeit ones that you don't want to use like the free parking at council sites.  Better parking spots more convenient etc.  The fact that you don't want or need them is irrespective as you get them.  You get on street parking for free, you can park on double or single yellow lines for up to three hours.  These are all major benefits and not just for you but for all disabled people including those that make full use of them.  It would create a bureaucratic nightmare to allow you to opt in and out as you please so you are asked to pay a small fee.  Is that really so unreasonable given the extensive rights and privileges it gives you?  Do you think that the ordinary taxpayer should foot that bill?  If not who do you think should pay it?

all i want is too be treated like any other driver i dont want any benifits i just want the right too park and without paying £20 for a badge i cant park as car parking spaces are not wide enough

too me its the same as having a ramped entrance too a building too allow me equal access i just want equal access too parking whats next £20 fee too be allowed too use a ramp?

All you want is to be treated as any other driver?

So, if they said, we will waive the £20 fee, that's payable over 3 years, and in return, we will take back the car, then you can supply your own car, and tax it, and be responsible for servicing it. You'd accept this, just so you can feel you are being treated as any other driver?

[Ironside]

That's not the case though is it.  You do receive benefits from it albeit ones that you don't want to use like the free parking at council sites.  Better parking spots more convenient etc.  The fact that you don't want or need them is irrespective as you get them.  You get on street parking for free, you can park on double or single yellow lines for up to three hours.  These are all major benefits and not just for you but for all disabled people including those that make full use of them.  It would create a bureaucratic nightmare to allow you to opt in and out as you please so you are asked to pay a small fee.  Is that really so unreasonable given the extensive rights and privileges it gives you?  Do you think that the ordinary taxpayer should foot that bill?  If not who do you think should pay it?

all i want is too be treated like any other driver i dont want any benifits i just want the right too park and without paying £20 for a badge i cant park as car parking spaces are not wide enough

too me its the same as having a ramped entrance too a building too allow me equal access i just want equal access too parking whats next £20 fee too be allowed too use a ramp?

All you want is to be treated as any other driver?

So, if they said, we will waive the £20 fee, that's payable over 3 years, and in return, we will take back the car, then you can supply your own car, and tax it, and be responsible for servicing it. You'd accept this, just so you can feel you are being treated as any other driver?

yeah I could actually get better deals for the mileage I drive outside of motability  just too lazy not too

[curnow]

personally think you should pick your battles , there is loads that this goverment is doing that will affect people with disabilities

like PIP instead of mobility part of DLA & also take your battles to people who care , those able bodied people will have no understanding what anyone with a disability goes through

[Ironside]

Curnow I know alot of people much bettered educated than me thst are making protests about the changes, I will let them take on government and when/if they need bodies they can explain it in laymans terms and I will back them up.

taking on local council is something I feel more capable of doing having been a prominent member of disability action groups in the past and having debated numerous issue in comunity planning meetings(I got invited to these for about 10 years as one of one 2 disabled people representing the disabled) I have had great debates with the ceo on issues in which we have both changed our minds and he used to phone me up when issues occured.

[Ironside]

i need too offer an apology too everyone for the way i have pushed this but i needed the feedback you all gave anf i am thankfull for it
i made the post on the forum as i knew the feedback i was going too get was going to be different too what i get in my circle of friends
and associates i already started making my views known too officials a month or more ago including with a few of my drinking mates
who are on the council.
i was actually approached by a few people who work with the disabled that remember me from previous causes i have stood up for but
i am so far out of the loop i needed feedback and wasnt getting it from the circle of friends i have so made a post here too see if i could get
some negativity, i am not going too start doing anything stupid dispite how stubborn i sounded here i was just trying too get myself prepared
when i meet up with some disabled people that have already started a campaign and have made the local rag. but they seem very disorganized
and lack any leadership and or knowledge.
alot of the stuff i have posted on this thread is bogus i do use my badge alot parking on dbl yellow line (putting my life at risk and picking up tickets which i have too appeal) the £20 too me is not important i have a good pension from the army but reason i was asked if i would help out is seemingly some people are struggling
thanks too your posts i am now better prepared for meeting the disabled people, the officials that have asked me if i could be of any help and the Councillors and  council officials that i would meet if i do take this any further. one thing i wasnt aware of untill a cpl of weeks ago was that although its the council that is bringing in the charge its a government backed issue and the likelihood of any protest succeeding is less than 0.01% especially as the policy has been running in several areas for over a year now

so once again i would like too apologizes too anyone i have offended in this thread and for the fact i wasnt open about my reasons for making it my reasons of being stubborn

[Marky147]

The thread makes more sense now that we know you were playing devil's advocate

Don't think any apologies are necessary though mate, can't see why anyone would be offended by anything you have posted, and neither should they be imo.

[Ironside]

The thread makes more sense now that we know you were playing devil's advocate

Don't think any apologies are necessary though mate, can't see why anyone would be offended by anything you have posted, and neither should they be imo.

thanks too be able too debate an issue properly i always find its best too understand both sides of an argument and not be blinkered i am hoping by posting in a blinkered style i have got some great info on how the other side can and will react

[SirPerceval]

I'm confused. Are you paying the £20 or not?

[sharky_uk]

The thread makes more sense now that we know you were playing devil's advocate

Don't think any apologies are necessary though mate, can't see why anyone would be offended by anything you have posted, and neither should they be imo.

thanks too be able too debate an issue properly i always find its best too understand both sides of an argument and not be blinkered i am hoping by posting in a blinkered style i have got some great info on how the other side can and will react

to good....