Coventry City Council unable to tackle misuse of disabled bays
Coventry Council says it cannot fine drivers using disabled bays without a blue badge
Highways chiefs at Coventry City Council have confirmed that they cannot take action against able-bodied drivers who park in disabled bays on the city’s streets.
The announcement will disappoint more than 100 residents who signed a petition calling for fines for those misusing the bays.
The petition, which received 125 signatures, highlighted the difficulties faced by disabled people when parking spaces intended for them are taken by drivers without a blue badge.
In their response, officers explain that there is little the local authority can do.
The cabinet member for city services, Cllr Patricia Hetherton, will be told at a meeting next week (January 28) that the bays were just advisory. That means that no legal action can be taken.
The wording of the letter to be sent to the organiser of the petition will explain: “We recognise the strength of feeling expressed in this petition and understand the frustration experienced by disabled residents when advisory disabled bays are used by drivers who do not hold a blue badge.
"We agree that these bays play an important role in supporting residents with mobility needs and we do not condone their misuse.
“Typically, when installing an on street residential disabled bay they are installed as an advisory marking. We do this as it allows the bay to be
installed without the need for a formal traffic regulation order (TRO). This allows the council to introduce them much more quickly and at significantly lower cost than mandatory disabled bays introduced by order.
“As a result, we can respond faster to residents’ needs, install a greater number of bays each year and assist many more disabled residents within existing budgets.
"If every disabled bay were introduced through a TRO, the cost of legal processes, consultation, advertising, and implementation would substantially reduce the number of bays the council could provide, and many residents would face long delays or be unable to receive a bay at all.
“While advisory bays rely on public cooperation rather than enforcement, they are widely respected and effective in most locations. Introducing them quickly often provides immediate relief to residents who would otherwise wait many months or years for a formal bay.
“Introducing enforcement would require converting advisory bays into mandatory bays, which involves a full legal TRO process and additional signing and road markings. This adds to the time and cost of implementing each bay and in turn reduces our ability to provide disabled parking support at scale.
“Whilst we understand the desire for enforcement and recognise the difficulties caused by misuse, the current system of advisory disabled bays enables the council to support far more disabled residents, more quickly and more affordably, than would be possible if all bays were introduced by order.
"This approach ensures limited resources are used to maximise benefit across the community.
“Recognising however the concerns raised within this petition the council will continue to promote public awareness that advisory disabled bays are installed for residents with genuine mobility needs, review locations where misuse is persistent and consider whether a formal TRO may be appropriate in exceptional circumstances, working with residents to assess alternative or additional parking solutions where advisory bays are proving ineffective.”