Disabled parking: Bristol City Council considering fees

The proposal will be discussed at a council meeting on 15 February

A council is considering charging a fee for disabled parking bays on residential streets.

The cost-cutting plans put forward by Bristol City Council have been branded "appalling" by one opposition councillor.

The fee is one of the savings in the council's proposed budget to help claw back a £19.5million shortfall.

The cabinet member for transport said no decision had been made at this point.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a report approved by cabinet earlier this month say the suggestion to charge for disabled bays is "not profit-led and will only recover the actual costs incurred" of £100,000 a year.

The report also states: "The proposal is likely to have a disproportionate impact on disabled people and their carers - especially those living in low-income households unless there are concessions/waived fees."

Conservative opposition Cllr John Goulandris criticised the idea at a council meeting where Cllr Don Alexander, the Labour cabinet member, said not everyone with disabilities was poor and that "many" had "high-flying jobs".

Cllr Alexander said some local authorities already charge for disabled bays, although it had not yet been decided what a reasonable fee would be in Bristol.

He was asked whether charging would be means-tested and said: "We already don't do it in every case. If someone has off-road parking, we won't do a bay.

"But we will consult on it. We haven't decided on the details yet, so we will talk to disability groups about that.

"To be brutally honest we desperately need the money for other good things in transport.

"We need to be realistic about the financial cost of transport. Income from government has gone down and down for 10 years now."

The charging proposal will be debated by full council on 15 February.