To consider the attached report of the Director of Environment and Corporate Assets.
Minutes:
Councillors Brivio and Cowan queried why the criteria adopted by Dover District Council for considering disabled parking bay applications differed to that which had been adopted by KCC, specifically the applicant having to be the driver of the vehicle. In addition, it was unfair that an application could be refused on the basis that 5% of the available road parking space in the street had already been exceeded. Some other authorities applied different criteria, including allowing non-drivers to apply for bays. These anomalies required clarification.
The Corporate Estate and Coastal Engineer clarified that the 5% capacity criterion was only a guideline, and that an application from a disabled person who was not the driver of the vehicle would be considered if there were mitigating circumstances. Councillor Collor accepted that there were discrepancies in the criteria being applied across Kent, and proposed that KCC’s Parking Manager should be invited to the next meeting of the Board in order to provide clarification.
The Corporate Estate and Coastal Engineer referred Members to the report which gave details of six disabled parking bay applications. Applications A, B and D had been the subject of informal consultation and letters of objection had been received in relation to all four. Since the applicants met all the criteria, it was recommended that they should be progressed to formal advertisement. Application F had been subject to formal consultation and, since it met all the criteria and no further letters of objection had been received during the consultation period, it was recommended that this application be sealed by KCC.
In respect of Applications C and E, the Board was advised that no letters of objection had been received following informal consultation with neighbours. Since the applicants met all the criteria, it was recommended that the applications be progressed to formal advertisement.
Item G of the report dealt with the removal of six disabled parking bays which were no longer needed. It was therefore recommended that these bays be formally advertised with the intention of removing them.
RESOLVED: (a) That a report on disabled parking bay criteria be brought to the next meeting of the Dover Joint Transportation Board, and Kent County Council’s Parking Manager be invited to attend the meeting.
(b) That it be recommended that Applications A, B, C, D and E be formally advertised and, in the event that no objections are received, be recommended for sealing by Kent County Council (with any objections being referred back to a future meeting of the Dover Joint Transportation Board for further consideration).
(c) That it be recommended that Application F be sealed by Kent County Council.
(d) That it be recommended that the six disabled parking bays detailed in Item G of the report be formally advertised with the intention of removing them and, in the event that no objections are received, be recommended for sealing by Kent County Council (with any objections being referred back to a future meeting of the Dover Joint Transportation Board for further consideration).