BLUE BADGE parking in Cornwall

[Deleted member 13543]

Since Cornwall became a unitary authority instead of a collection of local Councils, Blue Badge parking is no longer free in most Council run carparks, unless you have exempt road tax. We discovered this in Rosewarne carpark in Camborne, which was formerly free to ALL Blue Badge holders! (Fortunately, if you can call it that, we were using the car, which does have exempt tax, due to my husband having the Mobility component of DLA. Grenville would have been a different story!)

Please, if you are using a Blue Badge, check to see whether you have to pay or not. Cornwall is enough of a rip-off already without people getting fined in carparks!!

 

[donkey too]

It won't be long before this is the case all over England and is something that was campaigned for by a Blue badge Charity to cut down on the fraudulent use of badges. As a disabled ex serviceman with limited mobility I have a BB and do not mind paying as long as the facilities I require are in place. I do object to people who use a BB just to get cheap or free parking. There are millions of them in this country. As I mentioned in a thread earlier this month there were people who use the BB spaces every day of the summer in Exmouth who are obviously not diabled. If they can walk over a mile to the railway station and back again they do not need a BB and have obtained it fraudulently.
Personally I photograph such people and their badges and report them to their issuing office and local council benefits office.

 

[vindiboy]

I could never understand why Disabled Drivers get to park for free in the first place,I am all for providing facilities for them and also special parking places etc, but why free , are disable drivers also exempt from road tax, if yes why?.

 

[AuldTam]

I could never understand why Disabled Drivers get to park for free in the first place,I am all for providing facilities for them and also special parking places etc, but why free , are disable drivers also exempt from road tax, if yes why?.

If it is a motability car it is included in the monthly payment. If not, tax is exempt because the vehicle is used solely for the disabled person. All disability equipment is tax exempt, e.g. disability aids, wheelchairs, etc.

 

[vwalan]

hi. yes and no. on the road tax . you can get a blue badge and still not be eligable for free road tax. /you have to be on the higher scale of disabled living allowance. to qualify.
the blue badge allows parking on the roads so long as you arent causing a obstruction . (thoughtfull parking is maybe better)for 3hrs ,..you may get free parking in carparks, but may not. seems daft in cornwall as its the cornwall council that issue the badges then dont let you use the carparks for free unless you are in the free taxed vehicle . doesnt matter what vehicle you are in it doesnt change the disability.
if you go to our main hospital disabled drivers must pay . best park outside the carpark on the double yellow lines thats ok for 3 hours .
disabled get it so they can get about to go to the shops etc . it is restricted to the disabled .if another driver is using a disabled taxed car and its not on behalf of the disabled person .there could be a withdrawl of the facility.
unfortunately there is abuse of the system and if you see it happening report it . there will be an investigation in to it.
a disabled driver can only have one free road tax a year . this can be for a car ,motorbike ,truck, what ever the disabled person uses to get around.
the blue badge scheme is eu wide and can even get you good free parking outside he eu. but cant give detasils as i only know of morocco.
hope that helps ,if you want to know more do ask.
is that enough malc?
cheers alan.
you dont have to hve a motability vehicle to get the free road tax , and motability can be expensive way of getting the car /vehicle.

 

[robjmckinney]

crips and parking

Cornwall rips off all the Emmits cripples or not, the reason crips don't pay is the theory they have to use the car to get round. As an ex-military crip myself I totally understand why some people get Badges where they seem fit and able. More that it relates pain and suffering, I may walk some distance but certainly not without a great deal of pain, I do walk upright without wheelchairs. Some may have other hidden issues but a Doctor has to certify that they have difficulty, they are the professionals, not for others unfit to judge.
Yes, disabled drivers may choose one vehicle to be tax exempt or exchange their mobility payment for a new car on 3 year contract, very small cars unless they make a contribution on top of losing mobility payment.
Since most carparks are private on the Southern coast, cripples pay like anyone else, many councils charge crips just like some hospitals now charge at a slightly discount rate!
We are ripped off like the rest of Joe Public, yet cars are an essential aid!

 

[joncris]

I could never understand why Disabled Drivers get to park for free in the first place,I am all for providing facilities for them and also special parking places etc, but why free , are disable drivers also exempt from road tax, if yes why?.

because they have no choice but to use their car whereas YOU, being able bodied, do. Now which would you prefer being disabled or able bodied

 

[cooljules]

because they have no choice but to use their car whereas YOU, being able bodied, do. Now which would you prefer being disabled or able bodied

im a crip, with a damaged back, hip that pops out, 2 destroyed knees and only just turned 40. been like this for 15 years now. think i can walk far? i have to get help just getting a item off the shelf and into a shopping trolley......

im stuck in the house most days without a car, and the days im not too bad i do what i can, which is slow and steady with a wobble.

i couldnt afford a car without DLA and free road tax.

now what i really hate is people as i pull into a disabled bay, see me driving and saying i should park there. so which i reply is come and say it to my face again, as my legs might be slow, but the top half of my body is fast.......

and this is me a couple of years ago, in Dresden with my dog, again from a foto you cant tell how bad my life is.......but hey, want to swop places? i cant even go up and down a few stairs without being in total agony and it gets worse every day...............

the old camper i have is my only way of getting out and enjoying life as much as i can, i cant put a tent up, i cant bend and need help going to the shops.....no one is going to take what freedom i have away from me!!!!!

 

[Deleted member 13543]

In France, I think I'm right in saying, the disabled parking places have something on them that says "If you want to take this place, you can take my disability as well!" or words to that effect. I know a lot of people jump out of a car parked in a disabled place, and you wonder what on earth is wrong with them. Some conditions aren't obvious if there are no wheelchairs or crutches visible, but it doesn't mean they are not there.

The system IS abused by some people, but there are always people who will abuse any system going. I'm sure the vast majority of BB holders are genuine people, and like colljules says, would you really want to swap places to get free parking?? The other point I'd like to make about using the disabled parking places is that they are bigger, and easier for a disabled person to get out of the car. It's usually a struggle and if they were parked in a normal place where they couldn't open the door fully, they'd find it even more difficult.

I didn't mean to create a "have a go at BB abusers thread", just to warn BB holders about Cornish carparks!!

 

[cooljules]

In France, I think I'm right in saying, the disabled parking places have something on them that says "If you want to take this place, you can take my disability as well!" or words to that effect. I know a lot of people jump out of a car parked in a disabled place, and you wonder what on earth is wrong with them. Some conditions aren't obvious if there are no wheelchairs or crutches visible, but it doesn't mean they are not there.

The system IS abused by some people, but there are always people who will abuse any system going. I'm sure the vast majority of BB holders are genuine people, and like colljules says, would you really want to swap places to get free parking?? The other point I'd like to make about using the disabled parking places is that they are bigger, and easier for a disabled person to get out of the car. It's usually a struggle and if they were parked in a normal place where they couldn't open the door fully, they'd find it even more difficult.

I didn't mean to create a "have a go at BB abusers thread", just to warn BB holders about Cornish carparks!!

oh i know its abused by sooooo many people. makes me sick, i get comments as im young looking, and dont drive a car like a rover or what other old people or disabled people have.

i know private car parks dont have to give free parking to disabled, but i always thought local councils did...seems i was wrong on that

 

[joncris]

im a crip, with a damaged back, hip that pops out, 2 destroyed knees and only just turned 40. been like this for 15 years now. think i can walk far? i have to get help just getting a item off the shelf and into a shopping trolley......

im stuck in the house most days without a car, and the days im not too bad i do what i can, which is slow and steady with a wobble.

i couldnt afford a car without DLA and free road tax.

now what i really hate is people as i pull into a disabled bay, see me driving and saying i should park there. so which i reply is come and say it to my face again, as my legs might be slow, but the top half of my body is fast.......

and this is me a couple of years ago, in Dresden with my dog, again from a foto you cant tell how bad my life is.......but hey, want to swop places? i cant even go up and down a few stairs without being in total agony and it gets worse every day...............

the old camper i have is my only way of getting out and enjoying life as much as i can, i cant put a tent up, i cant bend and need help going to the shops.....no one is going to take what freedom i have away from me!!!!!

Quite right I get pissed off with the able bodied complaining about our so called 'perks' AND nicking our parking spaces

 

[cooljules]

i hate it when you see on the news, people claiming they have mobility problems, yet get caught out by undercover cameras playing golf etc etc....

me and my mates built a bar in my garden last year, as its hard to me to get out (other week i went to a wedding, and for 5 days i was in bed in agony recovering). if i do go to a nightclub, i drink at least 30 or so double vodka and energies just to num the pain and make it more tolerable...but again days laid up after.


been bad since i broke my back in 96 after a large fall.....i always thought people who whinged about back ache were just complaining about nowt.....now i need lots of meds, i cant sleep well, i need to get up 5 or 6 times a night to pee (which with bad back and bad knees is agony alone) all cos my meds make me constantly need to drink or my mouth just dries out in seconds and cant speak.

i cant play football, i drive drive a racing car, i cant do most things i did, and the only fun i have is going away with my dog (now another dog) and that includes around europe...this country is so far backwards in helping disabled peope. i dont want sympathy or things like that, just a little understanding.

 

[Deleted member 13543]

......i know private car parks dont have to give free parking to disabled, but i always thought local councils did...seems i was wrong on that

As far as Cornwall goes, in the council carparks you have to have exempt tax as well, but this may well not apply elsewhere. We were at Burnham-on-Sea in May, and parked in the carpark next to Morrisons, where BB parking was free, AND they had motorhome spaces. Very civilised!! We were told by another motorhomer that behind that carpark was another parking area where you could park free overnight.

Anyone know if you occupy 2 places in a carpark, can you pay for one, and use your BB for the other, or would you have to pay for both??

 

[cooljules]

As far as Cornwall goes, in the council carparks you have to have exempt tax as well, but this may well not apply elsewhere. We were at Burnham-on-Sea in May, and parked in the carpark next to Morrisons, where BB parking was free, AND they had motorhome spaces. Very civilised!! We were told by another motorhomer that behind that carpark was another parking area where you could park free overnight.

Anyone know if you occupy 2 places in a carpark, can you pay for one, and use your BB for the other, or would you have to pay for both??

i get free road tax, so thats no a prob. but interesting thread about car parks though!

i for so long have wanted to go down to the south coast as i have been into dinosaurs and fossils since a kid. i did Palaeontology at Uni too but wasnt allowed on field trips as they couldnt get insurance for me as im a crip with mobility problems. dinosaurs never thought about making sure their fossil bones were just near the surface near a road lol

 

[vindiboy]

because they have no choice but to use their car whereas YOU, being able bodied, do. Now which would you prefer being disabled or able bodied

Fair comment in some respects, but not all, I did a couple of stints as Marshal at Warners Motor caravan shows and was responsible for parking disabled ?? Motorhomers on the site, I could not believe what I was seeing, yes some were very disabled happy campers and having a good time, others were turning up in huge vans, some towing cars and as fit as fleas or so it seemed and in general not at all happy bunnies it seemed to me that they thought the world owed them everything, I know people who share the Blue Badge and so can park willy nilly for free, I believe the majority of Disabled people get a fair amount of money in allowances etc from the state and would be well able to pay to park in the special places provided for them. it goes without saying that I prefer to be able bodied and not disabled but that is not the issue here.

 

[joncris]

"I believe the majority of Disabled people get a fair amount of money in allowances etc from the state" What planet are you living on mate

 

[cooljules]

"I believe the majority of Disabled people get a fair amount of money in allowances etc from the state" What planet are you living on mate

i bit my lip when i read that too.

 

[joncris]

i get free road tax, so thats no a prob. but interesting thread about car parks though!

i for so long have wanted to go down to the south coast as i have been into dinosaurs and fossils since a kid. i did Palaeontology at Uni too but wasnt allowed on field trips as they couldnt get insurance for me as im a crip with mobility problems. dinosaurs never thought about making sure their fossil bones were just near the surface near a road lol

I live on the Dorset Jurassic Coast. Let me know if & when you intend to visit & I'll organize some handy parking for you

 

[cooljules]

I live on the Dorset Jurassic Coast. Let me know if & when you intend to visit & I'll organize some handy parking for you

ah cool, are there quite accessable places without a 100 steps or really steep? i havent seen owt up north where i can park up and get close too.

sometime next summer would be great, been wanting to do it for well over 10 years and always said i would but the access. Infact i got my first camper years ago just for this hobby but a drunk driver put the end to that. im also into herpetology and entomolgy (did both for 15 years until a couple years ago when my health went down) and the south coast has so much to see and research (i do like parties, drinking huge amounts of vodka and girls too lol, im not a total nerd.....)

 

[joncris]

ah cool, are there quite accessable places without a 100 steps or really steep? i havent seen owt up north where i can park up and get close too.

sometime next summer would be great, been wanting to do it for well over 10 years and always said i would but the access. Infact i got my first camper years ago just for this hobby but a drunk driver put the end to that. im also into herpetology and entomolgy (did both for 15 years until a couple years ago when my health went down) and the south coast has so much to see and research (i do like parties, drinking huge amounts of vodka and girls too lol, im not a total nerd.....)

There are loads of places. In Charmouth you can drive to the beach & hire a hammer from the fossil shop:fun: