Wrexham council planning charges for disabled parking

The council believes scrapping free parking for blue badge holders would generate £25,000.

Wrexham council is being recommended to introduce car parking charges for disabled parking.

An environment and planning department report proposes bringing in parking charges at country parks as well as for blue badge holders at all council car parks where fees apply.

The report says the proposal is a "cost-saving initiative" that would generate £25,000.

It warns that otherwise additional savings would be needed.

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Council members will be asked to approve the introduction of the charges on Tuesday, 9 January.

The charges would run from 3 April and include:

• A daily charge of £1 for visitors to Nant Mill, Alyn Waters and Ty Mawr country parks with the offer of an annual parking permit of £50

• Disabled parking charges in line with non-disabled tariffs across all Wrexham county borough operated car parks where charges apply

Blue badge holders, those who are registered disabled, can currently park for free in all council car parks.

There is a statutory duty on the local authority to provide disabled parking spaces, but it is not obliged to provide them free of charge.

The report says: "With an ageing population, the number of blue badge holders is expected to increase and with this the number of non-fee paying customers who require access to parking."

It adds that because the blue badge scheme is not means-tested there is "no need" to assume that people who hold blue badges are unable to pay for parking.

A concession is proposed to allow blue badge holders an additional hour beyond the time paid for to allow for reduced mobility needs.

The council estimates that the introduction of disabled parking charges would bring in £25,000 and the country parks fees would generate £47,000.

Several Welsh councils already charge blue badge holders for parking, including Carmarthenshire, Merthyr, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Caerphilly.