September 21, 2010 1.42 pm This story is over 162 months old

New parking charges for blue badge holders

Blue badge victory: The City Council agreed to give ‘buy one, get one free’ parking concessions to blue badge holders in Lincoln.

— Update on September 29 @ 10.34am The concessions for blue badge holders in Lincoln have been ratified by Full Council on September 28.

The City of Lincoln council is set to give blue badge holders in the city parking concessions in the form of ‘buy one, get one free’ supermarket-style offers.

Last year the council withdrew unlimited free parking for blue badge holders, a decision challenged through a judicial review by local Matt Smith.

Smith (29), who has cerebral palsy and needs a wheelchair, said the charges were unfair, as disabled people would need to pay more for parking.

Following a meeting last month, the council agreed to look into bringing back some concessions for blue badge holders in the city.

On Monday, September 20, council executives decided ‘buy one get one free’ for every hour of parking blue badge holders buy would be the best concession.

The decision over the new parking concessions however, is not final, and is subject to approval at Full Council on September 28.

“The Executive […] decided that one hour free parking for every hour purchased for blue badge holders was a good way to balance the need to generate income for the authority,” said Councillor Mark Jones.

“This is in acknowledgement of the fact that it may take a disabled person longer to get around the city than an-able bodied person,” he added.

The council cannot quantify how concessions to blue badge holders will affect its finances, but it hopes to earn an extra £100,000 by cutting most parking subsidies.

Source: City of Lincoln Council