Bankrupt council hits disabled residents with ‘blue badge tax'
A bankrupt council has hit disabled drivers with a £25 parking charge as it struggles to plug a £2.1bn hole in its finances.
Woking Borough Council will ask Blue Badge holders to pay the 'administration fee' for a permit allowing them to park in council car parks for free.
The authority said the fee was 'reasonable' given the 'extraordinary' amount of time spent processing applications to the scheme.
Blue badges cost up to £10 in England and entitle holders to free on-street parking. They are renewed every three years.
The extra permit would allow drivers to also park for free in council-run car parks in Woking town centre and would expire in-line with residents' blue badges.
Woking Borough Council was forced to declare itself effectively bankrupt in June 2023 after a slew of risky property investments and regeneration deals landed the authority with a £2.1bn deficit.
A government commissioner report published this month found that even if the council sold everything it owned, it would still be more than £1.5bn in deficit. It added that servicing the debt was costing £1.3m a week in interest alone.
The council said that much of the £30,000 cost of the additional permit scheme was because its car parks use automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology – which requires a chip to be installed in every blue badge – rather than being pay-and-display.
Disability campaigners reacted furiously to the proposal. Cliff Bush OBE, who chairs Woking Access Group, said he was 'absolutely beyond rage' at the plans, which would reduce accessibility for disabled residents and amounted to a 'disability tax'.
He added: 'The council doesn't own the car parks, residents do, and I pay my council tax.'
Nikki Roberts, chief executive of the Surrey Coalition of Disabled People, said the 'upsetting and unfair' fee risked increasing social isolation among disabled people.
She added: 'The cost of living crisis is disproportionately affecting disabled people, as day-to-day life is more expensive and they tend to live in low-income households. This will only make the problem worse.'
Woking is one of many cash-strapped councils across the country looking at creative ways to raise funds. The authority has already slashed 'discretionary' spending on services – including buses, public toilets and community care projects.
Similarly, Liverpool City Council is increasing on-street parking costs by 60pc and off-street parking by nearly 50pc. For the first time, shoppers in Harpenden will have to pay £2.50 an hour to park on the high street as St Albans City and District Council attempts to boost its coffers.
It comes as nine in 10 town halls across the country are raising council tax by the maximum 5pc from April – while services are also being slashed.
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.'
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