Parking for Disabled People

 

West Lothian Council recognises that people with disabilities often have difficulty in carrying out their everyday activities because they cannot find convenient parking. The council has introduced a number of measures to help you park nearer your home and public places.

To qualify for all disabled persons' parking facilities you must be a Blue Badge holder. Information about the Blue Badge Scheme and an application form can be obtained from Council Information Services, any Council Library or by telephoning 01506 775000.

 

Residential Disabled Persons' Parking Places
The council can provide a marked disabled persons' parking place on the road near your home. To qualify, you must be a blue badge holder and have a suitable vehicle registered at your address. However, sometimes the council may not be able to provide a parking bay, even though you meet the criteria, because of local planning or traffic considerations.

The Scottish Parliament recently introduced new legislation aimed at making all disabled persons' parking bays enforceable by the police. If we are able to provide a parking bay near your home, the following will then happen:

·         We will arrange to mark the bay on the road in the location agreed with yourself. This should happen within six weeks of confirming your application has been successful. At this stage, the bay is NOT enforceable.

·         We will then start the legal procedure to make the bay enforceable. This will involve advertising our intention to make the bay and inviting objections. If any objections are received, this will delay the process.

·         If there are no objections, we will finalise the legal process and erect a sign at the parking bay. At this point, the bay becomes legally enforceable by the police and you must display your blue badge at all times when parked in the bay. This can take up to 9 months from confirming your application is successful.

If you wish to apply for a residential disabled persons' parking facility, please download and print the form below and return to Transportation, West Lothian Council, County Buidlings, High Street, Linlithgow, EH49 7EZ. You need to include:

·         A photocopy of your blue badge

·         A photocopy of your vehicle registration document (V5 or log book). If you have a Motability car, please contact Motability on 0845 4564566 for a copy of the vehicle registration document. Currently these are provided free of charge.

Alternatively, you can contact Customer Services on 01506 775000 for advice and an application form.

 

Residential On-Street  Disabled Parking Places Policy

The council's policy on on- street disabled parking place provision was agreed in September 2011. The policy sets out how West Lothian Council will implement the ongoing requirements of section 5 of the Disabled Persons’ Parking Places (Scotland) Act 2009 (DPPP Act).  In particular, it explains how we will deal with certain issues which are not specifically covered by the Act.  The policy has been developed in conjunction with local groups representing disabled people and supersedes all previous policies on the provision of Disabled Persons’ Parking Places. A copy of this policy is available to download below.

 

Customer Satisfaction Survey
In order to monitor and improve the service that we provide, a customer satisfaction survey on our disabled persons' parking places scheme is undertaken annually. A summary of the results is available to download below.

Updated 07/12/11

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Click a question to see the answer.

Am I eligible for a residential disabled persons' parking bay?

You may be eligible for a residential disabled persons' parking bay if you are a blue badge holder and have a suitable vehicle registered at your address.

How long does it take to get a residential disabled persons' parking bay?

We aim to let you know the outcome of your application within 3 weeks. Where an application is successful, it should take no more than a further 6 weeks to mark the bay but it is not enforceable by the police at this stage. It can take up to 9 months to complete the legal process to make the bay enforceable.

Someone is parked in the disabled persons' parking place outside my house . What can I do ?

If the car parked in the bay is displaying a blue badge, there is no enforcement action that can be taken. If the car has no blue badge, check whether there is a road sign (as well as the marking) stating "Disabled badge holders only". If there is such a sign, you can contact the police who can issue a fixed penalty ticket. If there is no sign in place, the bay has not yet been made enforceable - contact the council's Customer Services on 01506 775000 to find out when it is planned to be made enforceable.