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62 Thingwall Park

Bristol
BS16 2AN

24 July 2014
By Email to:-
mark.bradshaw@bristol.gov.uk

Dear Mark,

Thank you for your letter dated 8th July 2014 and our telephone conversation last week.
I have set out my letter in three sections to make it easier to read through.

The sections are set out as follows:-

Section 1 Setting out why the current schemes are completely inadequate for disabled people and
providing a number of scenarios gained from people completing the surveys we have distributed.

Section 2 The section will state why I have called for free and open parking throughout the RPS
schemes.

Section 3 This section will cover the compromise package we spoke about as a way to make
progress.


Section 1 The Current Schemes

It is clear that the needs of disabled people and blue badge holders have not been properly been
taken into account.
You reference a number of advantages. Like advisory disabled bays becoming enforceable. This
would be a major advantage were it not for the fact that any blue badge holder can use the disabled
bay and given that the current schemes include no additional disabled bays the result is likely to be
that the disabled person who asked for the bay to be placed outside their house being displaced
while other disabled people would be free to park there.

You also make reference to pay and display and sharer bays being available for disabled people to
park in without time limit. This is welcome however again this benefit is diminished as many disabled
people need to access their vehicles from the rear. Without that guarantee those disabled people
are likely not to be able to take advantage of this benefit.

Also, disabled people who transfer from their car onto a wheelchair often have to do that into the
road because of the difficulty in transferring onto a wheelchair which is high on the pavement.
Almost without exception the pay and display bays are located on busy roads where it is unsafe for
disabled people to transfer in that way. Again the group of disabled people surveyed said they would
simply not be able to take advantage of this so called benefit.

Carer passes are too restrictive. If a person has a spell in hospital and on being discharged from
hospital requires additional carer support the current scheme doesnt take that into account.
In fact disabled people often have bouts of illness even though they often dont qualify permanently
for carer benefits. The scheme needs to take this into account.
The Mayor has made reference to blue badge abuse without specific evidence of the likelihood.
There are 18.5K blue badges issued. It is perverse for the majority of users to suffer due to the abuse
of what I assume would be a small number. On the contrary most people with blue badges are not
going to flock to the RPS areas just because they would be able too. Most blue badge holders are
sadly economically inactive in that most do not work therefore they would not use the areas to
commuter park.

Also, Bristol has a serious backlog of disabled people requesting disabled bays to be painted outside
of their homes. Its a backlog which currently stands at over 60 and therefore will take 18 months to
complete.

All in all with the current schemes being rolled out and the back log in disabled bays this sends a
clear message about Bristol not being a welcoming place for disabled people.

On a small number of occasions I have heard the Mayor make reference to allowing just individuals
who have disabled rated cars to park in the RPS schemes. I think this is a regressive step because
there are still many with significant mobility issues without disabled rated cars or taken out by
friends & family.


Section 2 The most administratively simple/cost effective and least dehumanising approach is that
disabled people who hold blue badges should be allowed to freely park in the RPS schemes.
This is my preference & the preference of colleagues in the Labour Party including your Cabinet
Colleague Cllr Massey who supported the Labour Party motion on this issue. The Green Party and
the Liberal Democrats both support this proposal in full.

This will involve no bay markings just a change to the signage and instructions to parking attendants.
In your letter you ask for evidence why the current schemes are a disadvantage to disabled people. I
have set out above some of the reasons why the current schemes are not fit for purpose.

That said it is for Bristol City Council, you & the Mayor to carry out full and proper impact
assessments and consultations & make reasonable adjustments prior to rolling out these schemes.

Please can you forward me a copy and/or publish the impact assessments as I would like to
understand what was considered?

I still believe this would be the simplest solution. If you and the Mayor are concerned that this would
be abused then why dont you form a pilot to have a proper assessment of the impact?


Section 3 A way forward

When we spoke on the phone you made reference to officers telling you they were concerned about
allowing free access to the scheme. In order to control that you proposed a package of items to be
taken as a whole which would help move the schemes from being unfit for purpose to partly
acceptable though still restrictive

This whole package is:-

- A reasonable number of pay & display bays through all the schemes be specifically reserved
for disabled people utilising 7m bay lengths to facilitate disabled people who access their
vehicles from the rear of the vehicle.

- A reasonable number of specific disabled parking bays be reserved throughout the RPS for
use by disabled people.

- Officers will work with a small group of blue badge holders to design in these bays
immediately

- Blue badge holders will be able to park in permit holder bays for a time limit of 3 hours
- A health care professional letter would suffice for carer permit. This will allow for those
coming out of hospital and require specific caring needs.

- Any disabled person requesting a disabled bay outside of their home will be accepted as a
matter of course.

- The backlog of disabled bays be vastly reduced with an aim to resolve the backlog in 9
month period

- Detailed accessibility map be displayed on the website setting out where disabled people
can park through Bristol

- Existing schemes will be updated within a period six months

- New schemes will be rolled out on the basis of the above

- That the existing arrangements stay in place being:-

- That all disabled bays have no time limits and are enforceable.

- That disabled blue badge holders can also park in pay & display parking spaces with no time
limit.

Given that we are accepting this restricted compromise structure I do not believe we need to pilot
this approach.

We would only agree to the package if it is implemented as a whole and without a pilot. Piecemeal
implementation allows for salami slicing of a package we have considered & weighed.

Please can you let me know if this is acceptable so we can move forward together on this vitally
important schemes.

Yours sincerely,

Kelvin Blake

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