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Disabled Parking bay regulation length (on street adjacent and parallel to kerb)
ledrat9
Member Posts: 9 Listener
Hi all
A while ago I applied to my local authority for a designated disabled bay to be installed outside my house. Parking is difficult and there have been times when I've had to park in a different street. At first the local authority said it could not be done due to a lack of funding.
Then later they decided that they were going to introduce a residents parking controlled zone. They then wrote to me saying that they could now instal the bay to coincide with their planed works. They said they would be in touch and I heard nothing more. In January the works took place, yellow lines went down and ares where marked out and a bay was painted in outside my house!
But it turns out that this bay will not be a disabled bay. It's big enough for 1 car. It cannot be larger due to the vicinity of dropped kerbs. I tried to get a response from the council but the person I was dealing with seemed unable to now respond to my email. So I escalated it by taking the case to my local MP. She wrote to them and she did get a response.
The council said that the reason they could not install the bay was due to the minimum length of a disabled parking bay being 6600mm or 6.6 meters if you prefer, and there was not enough room available for the bay! Now further up the road to me a disabled resident has a bay marked out and it is no larger than a space needed to accommodate a single vehicle. Also one in an adjacent street is exactly the same. In fact everywhere I've ever been I've never seen a single bay of 6.6 meters in length. That's almost enough to take four cars. My car being 1.8 meters in length.
Now I've tried researching this and all I can find is that the minimum requirement for a bay is 6.6 meters. But even on a web page I visited it clearly showed a photograph of a car in a street side bay that was only big enough to accommodate one vehicle.
Does anyone have any information on this please?
A while ago I applied to my local authority for a designated disabled bay to be installed outside my house. Parking is difficult and there have been times when I've had to park in a different street. At first the local authority said it could not be done due to a lack of funding.
Then later they decided that they were going to introduce a residents parking controlled zone. They then wrote to me saying that they could now instal the bay to coincide with their planed works. They said they would be in touch and I heard nothing more. In January the works took place, yellow lines went down and ares where marked out and a bay was painted in outside my house!
But it turns out that this bay will not be a disabled bay. It's big enough for 1 car. It cannot be larger due to the vicinity of dropped kerbs. I tried to get a response from the council but the person I was dealing with seemed unable to now respond to my email. So I escalated it by taking the case to my local MP. She wrote to them and she did get a response.
The council said that the reason they could not install the bay was due to the minimum length of a disabled parking bay being 6600mm or 6.6 meters if you prefer, and there was not enough room available for the bay! Now further up the road to me a disabled resident has a bay marked out and it is no larger than a space needed to accommodate a single vehicle. Also one in an adjacent street is exactly the same. In fact everywhere I've ever been I've never seen a single bay of 6.6 meters in length. That's almost enough to take four cars. My car being 1.8 meters in length.
Now I've tried researching this and all I can find is that the minimum requirement for a bay is 6.6 meters. But even on a web page I visited it clearly showed a photograph of a car in a street side bay that was only big enough to accommodate one vehicle.
Does anyone have any information on this please?
Replies
Thanks for the reply.
Yes I have looked at that before and on that site it also states the minimum length is 6.6 meters. The sentence that bothers me is
"In TSRGD 2016 the dimensions for bay markings have been relaxed, apart from those for disabled badge holders."
That would indicate to me that 6.6 meters is an enforceable length for the bay.
On this site
https://tsrgd.co.uk/pdf/tal/1995/tal-5-95.pdf
If you scroll down there is a photo of a car parked in a bay which is clearly not 6.6 meters!
I can only guess that these dimensions are not statutory?
Also when they did the works for the controlled parking zone they erected sign posts that were not there before. Also they have placed disabled parking only signs where required to existing bays.
I may be able to argue that these would constitute "new installations" and they are not 6.6 meters! So in fact they can install a bay when it suits them.
An average car like a VW Golf or Ford Focus is around 4-5 metres long so I don't see 6.6metres being unreasonable, especially if it needs to house a wheelchair adapted van for example. You have to remember that even if you have a disabled space placed outside your house, it does not belong to you and must be accessible to anyone with a Blue Badge.
And my car is 4.7 meters long (1.8 meters wide)
Yes I am well aware that the space can be used by anyone with a blue badge.
Most family type cars are around 4.8 - 5.0 metres in length. My neighbour's is 5.2 metres.
So a 6.6 metre bay is a little on the long side. I would imagine that it should be 6 metres.
This thread was started in March and the member hasn't been active since mid March, hoepfully the issues they had have now been sorted.
The issue is still on going. Below is a copy of the latest email I sent to one of the borough Councillors and we are waiting for a reply!
Dear X
Please thank (Anon) for attempting to answer my questions which I have been trying to get answered for a very long time.
Firstly.
Enforceable disabled parking bays should be accessible to any and all who have a requirement for them and can display a valid blue badge. They are not for individual usage. Therefore they must meet the minimum required length of 6.6 meters as stipulated in the TRSGD regulations of 1984.
Attached is a picture of the disabled parking bay outside 84 (address omitted). This bay measures only 5.3 meters in length. This bay must be lengthened to meet the requirements of TRSGD. I would like Mr (Anon) to inform us of when this will take place.
Secondly let me address Mr (Anon) three points and show why they are fallacious.
To summarise
Mr (Anon) needs to declare a date of when the disabled bay outside 84 (Address omitted) will be compliant with TRSGD 1984. Also I would like him to address my three counter points.
Yours sincerely