Shropshire Council has finally got around to looking at blue badge parking, writes blogger Emma Suddaby. I just hope officials are as interested in making changes that improve the mobility of disabled users as they are in making changes that cram more cash into council coffers . . .

You see, I’m feeling a bit of ‘sympathy fatigue’ creeping in around the blue badge scheme. It’s difficult to miss when you have shoppers tapping on the car window, demanding to see a blue badge for themselves.

There are whispered comments about how ‘lucky’ I am to have the parking perks a blue badge allows or that other old chestnut, ‘she doesn’t look that disabled’.

I’ve even had one lady (I’m being generous) chase me around the supermarket aisles after watching me park in a disabled space so that once cornered, she could explain loudly and at length why she should have a blue badge instead of me.

Sadly, because of the fraudulent few and the never-ending press coverage of their amoral antics, most drivers feel a distinct lack of empathy towards the needs of disabled drivers. They feel like they’re always losing out to someone more deserving and blue badges represent yet another inequality. Why not slap normal parking fees on disabled bays, for instance?

Imagine for a moment that you don’t have the use of your legs. You need to park in the town centre for an appointment. There are plenty of parking spaces near your destination but none of them have enough space behind to unload your wheelchair, using a car-fitted hoist.

Finally, after several circuits, you spot a disabled bay and park. You then have to wrestle your way out of the car, using crutches, in order to get to the back, where you must operate the hoist to unload your wheelchair. All of this takes some considerable time – let’s throw a bit of a rainstorm in for the sake of realism!

Now you have to wheel to the ticket machine and, if you have hands like mine, ask a passer-by to operate it for you, take the ticket back to the car and finally, you can wheel yourself to your appointment, slow going at the best of times, and then finish your shopping, for which you should allow roughly double the time it would take someone on their feet. Once back to the car you’ll have to go through the whole process again, in reverse, before you can pull away.

So badge holders are asking for parking fees to be reduced so they can afford the extra time it all takes . . . not because we’re greedy, lazy, malingering or ‘lucky’.

And by the way, the blue badge does not bestow parking perks.

If you are disabled and want to ensure the council takes your views on parking under the blue badge seriously, visit Shropshire Disability Network at www.shropshire-disability.net and make your voice heard. You only have until November 16 to do so, so get cracking!