Oldham's "shocking" three-year wait for disabled parking bays

Oldham Council admitted that no funding had been allocated for disabled pay parking for the last two financial years

Some disabled people in Oldham have had to wait for almost three years for a disabled bay from Oldham Council say the borough's Liberal Democrats.

The information came in a response to Councillor Howard Sykes, who had been taking up the issue of a delayed bay on behalf of one of his constituents in Shaw.

In the reply, the Council admitted that no funding had been allocated for disabled pay parking for the last two financial years, and that the last bay had been designated in the 2018/2019 financial period.
 
Disabled parking bays are allocated by the local authority and requires a road marking on the highway, reserving the space for blue badge holders.  It's also necessary for a Traffic Regulation Order to be issued.
 
Councillor Sykes said: “Eighty people are now waiting for assessments to determine their eligibility for a parking bay.  These are all people who hold a Blue Badge and have severe disabilities.  They need a disabled parking bay to access a vehicle that is parked near their home to get out and about.  It is tragic that some have had to wait almost three years – forcing increased isolation, and this waiting list is steadily growing.
 
“It is scandal that some of these people waiting will either be dead or no longer able to drive by the time their application is dealt with.  It is just not good enough and they deserve better.
 
“Oldham Council has failed to allocate any money for providing disabled parking bays since the 2018-19 financial year.  This increasing backlog will only continue to get worse.

“I shall carry on advocating on behalf of these forgotten and vulnerable citizens and press Oldham Council to make some cash available so we can provide some hope of light at the end of the tunnel for these disabled people who have been waiting patiently for so long.”

Councillor Barbara Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Culture, told the Chronicle: “Making sure disabled residents can access their homes is important to us.

"The council receives a large number of requests and each one is looked into.

"When considering an application we have to take into account a numbers of issues – not just financial implications – and these can take time. Also over the last 11 months officers have also been deployed on other duties.

"Things we have to look into include making sure some streets are not saturated with bays, which would mean other residents could not park. This is especially the case now as our blue badge policy has been recently revised to include additional categories of disability.

"In July last year we sent an update letter to 120 people who had applied for a bay. We only received responses from 60 people. Since then we have received another 20 new applications, and this rises weekly.

"I can also reassure that we continue to work hard to identify further appropriate funding."

Gary Sutcliffe, Traffic, Network Management and Collision Reduction Team Manager at Unity Partnership - who manage Highways on behalf of the council - said he was unable to say when the allocation of bays could continue: "It is not possible to give a timescale; once the assessments have been completed, the introduction of the spaces can only be progressed if and when funding is made available."

The longest wait for a disabled parking bay is an application from May 2018.

Do you have a story for us? Want to tell us about something going on in and around Oldham? Let us know by emailing news@oldham-chronicle.co.uk , calling our Oldham-based newsroom on 0161 633 2121 , tweeting us @oldhamchronicle or messaging us through our Facebook page. All contact will be treated in confidence.