Cigarette bins a costly franchise Infrastructure plays part in abuse of blue badge system
HAD it been April 1st I would have smiled at the suggestion (HT 21/02/18) that public opinion might be judged based on which side of a public “ashtray” smokers choose to place their cigarette ends when they are out and about.
For anyone wishing to participate in this new approach to consultation, there will be two options. Firstly, take up smoking. Secondly, if the health risk is a concern, buy cigarettes and just break the end off to cast a vote.
We are not used to having to pay for our political franchise, but given the way local authorities are planning to increase their income, I suspect it is only a question of time. Ed Gibbons FROM last week’s letters, I would just like to dispel any suggestion that the Blue Badge parking concession is not widely abused – it most certainly is in just about every way possible.
It starts with flaws and inconsistencies in the local government allocation scheme, which in many cases is based on little more than age rather than genuine need.
Unlike state pensions, these badges do not become an automatic right at a certain age threshold as some seem to think.
As regards abuse, most obvious are people who use the parking bays and do not have a badge and clearly no conscience or sense of public responsibility either.
At least in town centres there are sometimes CEOs who can issue PCNs, but their remit is limited and excludes private property (not just retailers but also for example the entrance roads to the hospital which are controlled by the NHS).
Then there are those who borrow someone else’s badge.
Even if you are running an errand for the badge holder the parking dispensation does not transfer to you.
Then there are the more extreme cases of theft and fraud (forged copies etc.) as reported in the national press only this week.
Thefts have increased four-fold in four years and for five years in a row according to the stats produced by the Local Government Authority itself.
This has been largely attributed to the continued squeeze on parking facilities generally, so local councillors please take note when you are considering town development – the infrastructure DOES matter.
P Ward