Disabled parking issue a disgrace - Letter

From: Michael Parfect, Cranedown, Lewes
A disabled parking signA disabled parking sign
A disabled parking sign

To contribute further to the growing discontent about parking in Lewes, I would draw attention to the frequent misuse of disabled parking spaces by commercial vehicles.

Despite clearly marked signs saying ‘Disabled Badge holders only’ in the row of four disabled parking spaces in the former magistrates’ court public car park, I very often find at least one, and sometimes two of these spaces invaded by large commercial vans not displaying Blue Badges.

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One is then forced exit the car park as a disabled driver, and try to find somewhere in a road outside where one can squeeze in if lucky.

On one such occasion I came a cropper with a fall in the roadway and was taken by a kind, community-spirited person to Lewes Victoria Hospital for my injuries to be dealt with.

None of this would have happened if one or other of the disabled spaces were free instead of being occupied by a van of some sort.

The frequency with which the misuse of allocated disabled parking spaces happens in Lewes suggests to me that there is something lacking as regards parking control by traffic wardens in the town, as I have never seen a parking penalty ticket attached to the windscreen of the van in question.

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The same thing applies to the large disabled space opposite St Andrew’s Surgery in Southover Road.

This space is specifically intended for use by disabled surgery patients, some of whom come in vehicles with a mechanical set-down device at the rear of the vehicle. Once again, this special disabled space is quite often occupied by a commercial vehicle of some kind, denying its use to patients.

This is a disgraceful state of affairs, which requires action by those responsible for the effective control of parking in Lewes, whether on- or off-street in nature.