THE FATHER of a disabled child is urging BCP Council to renew Blue Badges after being issued with a parking ticket when parked outside of his property.

Will Hince, 37, a bushcraft instructor from Poole, cares part-time for his four-year-old son William who has Pelizaeus Merzbacher Disease.

This means that William is unable to sit, stand or even lift his head unaided, and is also susceptible to medical emergencies.

However, managing William's condition has become harder for Will and his wife Maria as their Blue Badge has not been renewed.

Will said: "Our renewal for the Blue Badge was completed on October 24 as it expired on November 11. We contacted the council ahead of time and they said there was going to be a delay because of Covid, which we understood.

"We were told, from emails sent by the council, that we could continue to use expired blue badges because of the renewal delay.

"Currently we have no access to our driveway due to building works going on, so we parked William's wheelchair accessible minibus out on the road just down from the house. We got a parking ticket for doing that, which we appealed, and eventually the council said that we’re not allowed to park there.

"On top of everything else, this issue has been one final slap in the face and completely traps and isolates William as the minibus is his only form of transport. He can’t understand why he can’t just be heading out straight from home."

In response to this, a BCP Council spokesperson said: "BCP Council is unable to comment in detail about individual PCN challenges, however we can confirm that this particular PCN was cancelled before the end of November, in line with BCP Council policy following contact from the customer.

"Vehicles appropriately displaying a valid blue badge are permitted to park in the residents parking bays in the customer’s location. Parking restrictions vary from zone to zone across the BCP Council area so we would advise blue badge holders to check before parking."

Will has complained to the council about not receiving a response from the parking or Blue Badge department but says he has yet to receive a response over a month later.

He is currently parking in the car park of a nearby church thanks to receiving permission from the local priest.

He said: "The council just don’t seem interested and the two departments, particularly the parking department, don’t seem to care at all.

"BCP Council needs to be prompt with the renewal of these Blue Badges. If they can’t be, and we’ve completely understood why, then they need to put provisions in place for disabled children so that they can still have access to transport."

A BCP Council spokesperson said: "We know that blue badges are of immense value to people who live with a disability. We work very hard to ensure that anyone eligible for a blue badge should be able to obtain one. The standard processing time for a new or renewal application can take up to twelve weeks.

"This is a standard set by the Department for Transport which BCP Council always strives to achieve. However, processing can take longer in situations where further evidence is required to satisfy the eligibility for the scheme.

"We have also seen a large increase in blue badge applications within the recent months and this has had an additional impact on our processing times with applications being assessed. On average, further assessment applications are taking 14 weeks, and automatic applications five – six weeks.

"Our email inbox is constantly monitored and we typically respond to email contact within 24 hours. We are continuously making improvements to the Blue Badge service at BCP Council and have in some areas upskilled our colleagues to support with the higher demand."