WILTSHIRE Council will continue to charge Blue Badge holders to park in council-owned car parks despite calls from councillors and disabled people to reverse the decision.
At a full council meeting last week, leader of Wiltshire Council, cllr Richard Clewer, argued that those who use Blue Badges are mostly elderly and are not necessarily struggling financially, which sparked an angry response from opposition parties and prompted calls for him to apologise for his comments.
Westbury councillor, Gordon King, highlighting the difficulties of parking for disabled people, has described the Conservative administration as being “dismissive of others” and “the very epitome of arrogance.”
At the meeting, councillors approved the budget for 2024/25, that will see a 4.99% tax rise from April, with Conservative council leader Richard Clewer saying that the council’s finances are “strong”. But an amendment that was put forward by the Liberal Democrats that suggested that the council should use its financial stability to reverse the decision to charge Blue Badge holders, which was brought in last year, was voted down.
Cllr Clewer said, “The evidence is still the same. 80% of Blue Badges are issued to people because they have developed mobility issues as they age, not because they are facing a degree of poverty, but because they have got older.”
He added, “The idea of subsidising people because they have gotten old to get free parking doesn’t make sense based on the evidence.”
Responding to his comments, Salisbury councillor Caroline Corbin, who has cerebral palsy and is a Blue Badge user said, “Cllr Clewer, I hope you hang your head in shame. To say that people have disability badges due to them losing their mobility as they are getting older is complete tosh.”
She added, “You are a disgrace. I’ve had cerebral palsy since I was born and I’ve raised the safety issue in the past that disabled people parking on double yellow lines is not safe, so to revert back to free parking for these people is the only solution.”
Melksham councillor Jon Hubbard added, “I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry and so upset in this chamber as I am now. How dare you, cllr Clewer. When my mother was in possession of her Blue Badge, it wasn’t because she was old or decrepit, it was because she was dying of cancer. She wasn’t in her 70s; she was barely into her 60s. That’s not old; that’s disabled, and they are different.
“The people that use these permits have real and genuine needs.”
He added, “I think you owe an apology to every single disabled person who lives in this county for the statement you have made. It was truly shocking and I am disappointed in you.”
Westbury councillor and deputy Liberal Democrat group leader, Gordon King, spoke in support of the amendment which, if passed, would have reversed the decision to charge Blue Badge holders to park in council-owned car parks and said that it would “correct an injustice”. He said, “People qualify for a Blue Badge – it’s not a sign, as the leader said, of their relative deprivation.
“[A Blue Badge] allows these people to attain a certain amount of freedom in their lives by parking without charge, as they will always struggle and take longer in a car park than anyone else will do and they find it very difficult to organise themselves as easily and quickly as we do.
“The social value has been overlooked again and again and when you talk about ‘evidence-based’ evidence, I think it depends on what evidence you look at and what interpretation of that evidence you make.”
Westbury cllr Matthew Dean said, “The question here is one of resources and what we should do by the best of all of our people. The council is a very small provider of car parking spaces, the majority are either on-street or run by private operators, so if this went forward, it won’t make an enormous difference to an enormous number of people.
“No one has lobbied me at all for this change.”
Following the meeting, cllr King said, “Once again, the Conservative administration has shown no interest in promoting a council of the talents, showing interest in the thoughts and aspirations of others, or acting in an open and collegiate manner. Instead, it is all too readily dismissive of others, they are the very epitome of arrogance.
“Whilst it is certainly true that not all blue badge holder is disadvantaged, nevertheless the evidence shows that the largest group of badge holders are aged over 65, with most having moderate and severe mobility issues. With the value of the current average private and occupational pension being £5k or less, there is an inevitable link between disability, holding a blue badge and finding life economically challenging, which is well established. Some younger disabled and infirm users find access to employment impossible and are condemned to a life on benefits.
“Blue Badge holders denied parking in Wiltshire Council car parks are forced to park on double yellow lines, which they are entitled to do for up to 3 hours. But yellow lines are put there in the first instance because parking there is unsafe or unwise. Parking on a yellow line, unloading equipment and aids whilst dodging traffic is neither safe nor wise.
