Free parking for blue badge holders was abolished by Residents' Association councillors at last week's full council meeting. RA councillors had previously backed this move as part of a package of cuts hitting the most vulnerable in the borough at the council's last budget. Last week saw the RA group force through the Traffic Order required to impose fees by a vote of 16 to 14.
I described the cuts as a "fundamentally pernicious decision" during the debate and Conservative councillors voted against them. I also decided to tackle directly the erroneous and sometimes outrageous arguments being put forward by RA councillors.
Cllr Jean Smith stated that there is no correlation between disability and poverty. A statement so blatantly unsupported by evidence one had to wonder what the real motivation was of her making it.
Cllr Pamela Bradley said the move was necessary in the current financial climate, but then failed to explain why the council was making cuts that hit the vulnerable whilst not making cuts to councillors allowances or abolishing the council's propaganda magazine or the Mayor's chauffeur driven car.
Robert Leach, leader of the RA group of councillors, saved the best until last. He claimed that the consultation the council conducted (which took place after the decision had been made to impose charges) showed that over half of blue badge holders supported charging. This was deliberately misleading. I pointed out in debate that the question "do you support the introduction of fees?" Instead, without being asked, over 40% of those replying stated they were opposed to charging in principle. This blatant dishonesty was later described by Geoff Jelly, a local disabled rights campaigner, as "disgusting and low".
I will examine various aspects of this decision in future posts. One thing is certain. The RA group has lost touch with the residents of our Borough. Whilst squandering money elsewhere they have taken money from the most vulnerable. Have no doubt that they will be back for more by the time of the next council budget in February.
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