SHOCK OVER DISABLED PARKING BLUNDER
By MendipLibDems | Tuesday, November 15, 2011, 16:48
SHOCK OVER DISABLED PARKING BLUNDER
Mendip District Councillors were left in shock this week when it appeared that the Portfolio Holder for Regulatory Services let slip details of yet more changes to Mendip's carparks. Cllr John Parham (Con, Shepton West) took to Twitter and confirmed to a resident that charging Disabled Blue Badge holders to park was one of a range of options the Mendip administration is currently considering in a bid to increase revenue.
In a public exchange with a Mendip resident, Cllr Parham stated that 'no decision had yet been made' over charging disabled people to park, but that 'consultation and impact assessments' will be carried out. Leader of the LibDem opposition at Mendip, Cllr Claire Hudson (Frome Park) said 'We've campaigned on Mendip's approach to carparks for years now. I'm sad to say that whilst Mendip's recent price increase came as little surprise - a move to charge disabled people to park seems to be a real and definite move in the wrong direction.'
Cllr Helen Sprawson-White (Frome Oakfield) and Shadow Portfolio Holder for Regulatory Services was also worried about further changes, 'As a nurse, I see day in day out the problems long-term disabled people suffer, I think that an element of free parking is the least Mendip can do to help. I will be urging the council not to go down this route.'
The Mendip Cabinet voted unanimously last week to increase parking charges across the board by 7-12% but following local pressure have delayed implementation until February.
ENDS
Comments
This does not surprise us at all. The disabled are considered easy targets. Too ill and/or too weak often to protest or take part in the political process they are seen as a soft touch.
In addition to this Somerset County Council are considering the cost for Blue Badge holders to be increased. (Blue Badges are those badges that allow special rights to disabled people in where they are allowed to park. Rights not given to the general public at large.)
The government has given a mandate to local councils to allow them to increase the the amount it costs to get a Blue Badge per annum from the current rate which is £2.00 to a maximum of £10.00 per year and any rate in between. Guess which rate Somerset County Council is proposing? Yes you've got it the maximum of £10.00 per year.
They say this is to help prevent fraud. So in order to stop fraud genuinely disabled people have to end up paying more out of their decreased income for that which they genuinely need! (Statistics show that disabled people are consistently poorer that able people both historically and at the present time), So that makes sense he! Genuinely disabled people have to pay more because the Establishment cannot catch the fraudulent criminals who abuse the system. We suggest they go back to school to understand Logic.
But then there is no Logic is there in these present times. The bankers and corrupt politicians take us into the Abyss of economic disaster so who should pay - well yes the poor and vulnerable! Working class kids with no hope are sent off to war to devastate the lives of innocent civilians in countries where there are no weapons of mass destruction while the arms dealers delight.
It makes no sense at all. So we have given up on expecting anything to make sense from Authority.
The only sense you can make of it all is to be your own Authority because "they" won't help you.
The Glastonbury Disabled Peoples Liberation Fron
By TGDPLF at 18:19 on 18/11/11
Report