Ashfield District Council: Blue Badge Parking Scheme

Blue Badge Parking Scheme

What is the Blue Badge Scheme?
Who can get a Blue Badge?
Where do I apply?
Where can I park?
Where can't I park?

The Blue Badge Scheme is run by Nottinghamshire County Council. Select this link for Nottinghamshire County Council Blue Badge pages

What Is The Blue Badge Scheme?

Parking permit - blue badge The national Blue Badge Scheme gives parking concessions for many people with disabilities who travel either as drivers or passengers. By providing parking benefits on public roads, it allows badge holders to park close to their destination. The European Blue Badge Scheme replaces the UK Orange Badge.

Who Can Get A Blue Badge?

You can get a badge if:

You receive the higher rate of the mobility component of the Disability Living Allowance
You receive a War Pensioners' Mobility Supplement
You use a motor vehicle supplied for disabled people by a Government Health Department
You are registered blind
You have a severe disability in both upper limbs, regularly drive a motor vehicle but cannot turn the steering wheel of a motor vehicle by hand even if that wheel is fitted with a turning knob
You have a permanent and substantial disability which means you are unable to walk or have very considerable difficulty in walking. In this case you may be asked to answer a series of questions to help the local authority determine whether you are eligible for a badge. People with a psychological disorder will not normally qualify unless their impairment causes very considerable, and not intermittent, difficulty in walking.
Note: Children under two years of age do not qualify for a badge because they would not normally be expected to be able to walk independently. Organisations caring for disabled people meeting one or more of the above criteria may be able to get a badge, but this is entirely at the local authorities' discretion and the conditions for using such a badge must be strictly observed.

The European Blue Badge scheme is a replacement for the Orange Badge scheme as of 1 April 2000. Orange Badges will continue to be recognised until 31 March 2003, and will be replaced by Blue Badges when they come up for renewal.

Where Do I Apply?

You can download the application form directly from the Nottinghamshire County Council Web-site. They have provided the form in different formats to suit all users.

Alternatively, you can obtain an application form by post from your local Social Services office. select for details of your local office

Where Can I Park?

Badge holders may park free of charge and without time limit at parking meters on-street and 'pay-and-display' on-street parking unless a local traffic order, specifying a time limit for holders of disabled parking Badges, is in force. The Blue Badge must be displayed.
Badge holders may be exempt from limits on parking times imposed on other users. (Check local signs for information).
The Blue Badge must be displayed.
Badge holders may usually park on single or double yellow lines for up to three hours in England and Wales, or without any time limit in Scotland except where there is a ban on loading or unloading, and at a few locations where local schemes apply (Note: there are none in Ashfield District)
The Blue Badge must be displayed, and in England and Wales the special blue parking disc must also be displayed showing the time of arrival. There must be an interval of at least one hour from a previous period of waiting before the same vehicle can be parked in the same road or part of a road on the same day.
Ashfield District Council run car parks have free disabled car-parking bays. Please use in preference to parking on yellow lines.
The Blue Badge must be displayed.

The European Blue Badges can be used across the European Union to take advantage of local parking concessions for disabled people.

Where Can't I Park?

The Blue Badge is not a licence to park anywhere. You must NOT park:

During the time a ban on loading or unloading is in force (normally indicated by one or two yellow marks on the kerb at the times shown on post mounted plates). For example:
However, in pedestrian areas, waiting and loading restrictions may be in force even where there are no yellow lines shown on the road or kerb. Details of any restrictions in force will be shown on plates displayed at the kerb side of the road.
where there are double white lines in the centre of the road even if one of the lines is broken
in a bus or tram lane during its hours of operation
in a cycle lane
on any clearway, double or single red lines during their hours of operation
on Zebra, Pelican or Toucan crossings
on zig-zag markings before and after Zebra, Pelican or Toucan crossings
in parking places reserved for specific users e.g. loading bays, taxis, cycles
on a residents parking bay, unless there are signs showing that you may do so, or you have checked with the local authority or Highway Department that you may do so
in suspended meter bays or when use of the meter is prohibited
where temporary restrictions on parking are in force along a length of road e.g. as indicated by no-waiting cones
on school 'keep clear' markings during the hours shown on a yellow no-stopping plate.

You must also NOT park where it would be obstructive or cause a danger to others. The following are likely examples:

At school entrances, bus stops, on a bend, or near the brow of a hill or hump bridge
where it would make it difficult for others to see clearly e.g. close to a junction
where it would make the road narrow e.g. by a traffic island or where roadwork is in progress
where it would hold up traffic e.g. in narrow stretches of road or blocking vehicle entrances
where emergency vehicles stop or go in and out e.g. hospital entrances
where the kerb has been lowered or the road raised to form a pedestrian crossing on a pavement unless signs permit it.

Remember