Council urged to tackle autism parking struggle - Donegal Daily

Families of autistic children and wheelchair users are being let down by Donegal’s current parking system, a Donegal councillor has warned.Buncrana Councillor F...

Families of autistic children and wheelchair users are being let down by Donegal’s current parking system, a Donegal councillor has warned.

Buncrana Councillor Fionán Bradley has called for Age Friendly and Autism Friendly parking spaces to be introduced across the county, alongside a review of existing disabled bays.

He told Monday’s meeting of Donegal County Council that some families and organisations have received parking tickets after using disabled bays "in good faith" because they could not get suitable spaces nearby.

Many children and young adults with autism do not qualify for a Blue Badge because they do not have a physical disability.

However, Cllr Bradley said nearby parking can be extremely important for families, particularly where a child is a flight risk or experiences sensory overload.

“It can be a big task for these families, and for organisations like iCARE, to take their children and young adults to a shop, a medical appointment or any location within a town if they cannot get parked in an appropriate place or have to park very far away,” he told the council at the July plenary meeting.

"If they experience sensory overload in the place they are going to, they need to be able to get out very quickly with the child and get back to their car and back to safety so the child or young person can regulate.”

Cllr Bradley told the council about individuals who "thought they were parking in the disabled bay in good faith, but they ended up getting a slap on the wrist for it, which is terribly unfair."

He also highlighted the experience of a wheelchair user in Inishowen who travels in an adapted van with a rear ramp. At times, the disabled space they use leaves insufficient room to lower the ramp when another car is legally parked behind.

“The problem is that when that gentleman comes back to his van, because a car is parked behind him, he cannot open the door and cannot let the ramp down,” Cllr Bradley said.

“Therefore, he cannot get in. He quite literally has to sit on the footpath until the person parked behind him comes back and moves their car.”

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He stressed that the other motorist has not done anything wrong.

“Inevitably, that person always feels terrible about it, but they have made no mistake as such. They have parked legitimately and fairly in the space behind the disabled space.”

Cllr Bradley said the example showed why existing disabled bays need to be examined.

“I do not know if some of them are not long enough or wide enough, or if they are in the wrong location. But there definitely is a problem in specific areas.”

He became interested in alternative parking arrangements after seeing Age Friendly spaces in Malahide and Swords during a visit to Fingal in north Dublin.

The spaces operate without permits or an application process.

“In Fingal, they do not have an application process and they do not have permits. It is really an honour-based system,” he said.

“Not everybody who is elderly has a Blue Badge for disabled parking that enables them to park in a designated disabled space. But plenty of people are elderly and maybe not quite as mobile as they once were, or may have other infirmities.”

Director of Roads and Transportation Bryan Cannon said the Roads and Transportation Strategic Policy Committee had considered alternative forms of accessible parking at its meeting in May.

The committee concluded that the council should first audit the location and distribution of existing Blue Badge spaces and undertake a programme of improvements before considering other voluntary accessible parking arrangements.

Cllr Bradley said both pieces of work could be carried out at the same time.

“The only thing I would say is that I do not think it has to be an either-or situation,” he said.

“We could probably do both: review the current disabled bays that we have for Blue Badge parking and lead out and be proactive in the same way as Fingal and, I believe, other local authorities.