blue badge renewal

Richie-from-the-Boro

margaretclare wrote: »

Praise be! After his reassessment on Wednesday this week DH has just had an email saying he can have his blue badge. Send £10 and it will come through the post.

It is getting more and more difficult for him to walk, and if he does any walking, he suffers for it afterwards. It's not just 'seeing him walk' the required distance. Which he didn't do - he flatly refused, told the assessor he couldn't do it.

As the conditions changed in 2012 and the badges last for 3 years I would imagine, given what DH has just experienced, that there will be a lot fewer blue badges issued as every one comes up for re-assessment and not just an automatic renewal.

I'm pleased to hear that outcome, I supported then the apparent harshness that is the now the O/T assessment [subject to further assessment criteria] that meant thousands of 'fly by night' blue badge users and mainly complicit family and friends would have their rights revoked leaving the truly disabled with parking spaces and integrity. For myself more fines at £1,000 a time mean more greedy ruthless companies can employ more greedy ruthless blue badge specific enforcement officers who will help the genuine disabled make use of their blue badge in the way it was intended.

The blue badge scheme exists to help disabled people get out and about, drive to work, visit friends or just go shopping, or park on the moors or seaside for an hour and view from a distance what they can't walk to see - and might never again walk to see - again - ever. It was not invented to give their slitheringly greedy selfish lazy able bodied relatives a passport to free parking.

Well done to you and your man margaretclare for persisting, the walking test component of the criteria is proof that the disabled~but~deserving win what is rightfully theirs.

margaretclare

The blue badge scheme exists to help disabled people get out and about, drive to work, visit friends or just go shopping, or park on the moors or seaside for an hour and view from a distance what they can't walk to see - and might never again walk to see - again - ever. It was not invented to give their slitheringly greedy selfish lazy able bodied relatives a passport to free parking.

Thank you, Richie, that sums it up perfectly.

As DH cannot have replacement of the hip which has now been shown to have 'substantial wear' (because of risk of further sepsis) we'll have to be careful of it and try not to wear it out more than we can help. Places we used to go to which involved walking (like walking through Battle Abbey grounds in October) we'll give a miss to. On our recent travels in Switzerland, France and - last weekend - Belgium, a lot of our sightseeing was done through the car windscreen. A healthy tramp across the heather moors will never happen again. I think DH copes with it all very well and with a philosophical outlook, given how active and athletic he was once, in his youth. He couldn't even get into a rowing skiff now, nor ride a touring bicycle. That active youth, and not smoking, has stood him in good stead health-wise even when the bones and joints are crumbling!

I used to want to visit Jerusalem and walk the Way of the Cross. I'll never do it now (1) it's a war zone and (2) I couldn't walk that far. I once did the mile walk at Walsingham but no way could I do even a fraction of it now.

kittykat17

Great news MargaretClare. All the best to both of you and hopefully many more beautiful views for you both to visit / see.


Su x

margaretclare

kittykat17 wrote: »

Great news MargaretClare. All the best to both of you and hopefully many more beautiful views for you both to visit / see.


Su x

Thank you for this, Su. Even during the last weekend, we were away for a wedding. Disabled parking close to the hotel (difficulty in carrying our bags of clothes etc), and on the way back we detoured to see Lichfield. Special parking closer to the cathedral - without the blue badge there is so much that we shouldn't be able to see/places we'd never go to.