Blue badge fee 'tax on vulnerable' says campaigner

An accessibility activist says he is "absolutely beyond rage" that a Surrey council is planning to charge for blue badge applications for car parking.

Cliff Bush, who chairs Woking Access Group, said it was a "tax on the most vulnerable" as people with disabilities may have to pay to use town centre car parks.

Woking Borough Council is to charge a £25 administration fee for blue badge holders, who are already entitled to free on-street parking, but who want an additional permit to use council car parks for free.

The authority said the charge was needed to cover the cost of the scheme, the Local Democracy Service has reported.

The £25 charge would cover a period of up to three years, as it would be linked to the expiry date of each blue badge.

But Mr Bush said the change "reduced the accessibility to Woking".

He said: "The council doesn't own the car parks, residents do, and I pay my council tax."

Dale Roberts, deputy leader and portfolio holder for parking on Woking Borough Council, said: "We remain committed to accessibility in the borough, ensuring our fees and charges are fair, equitable and socially responsible, whilst remaining affordable for the council.

"Administering the scheme costs £30,000 a year, yet data suggests over a third of all permit holders don't make use of them.

"To help cover the cost of administering the permit scheme we will be introducing a small charge for new applications and renewals."

The council said much of the cost was because its car parks were not pay and display, but use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology which required a chip to be installed in every blue badge.

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