Betty’s Blue Badge Project

Healthwatch Thurrock undertook research into accessibility for blue badge users who use supermarket parking in Thurrock. After receiving a number of complaints and concerns regarding accessibility for Blue Badge users regarding supermarket parking, Healthwatch Thurrock decided to explore this further and gather lived experiences of Blue Badge users within Thurrock who use local supermarket parking. The project was overseen and run by one of their volunteers, Betty. 118 people responded to their survey.

Healthwatch Thurrock concluded from this piece of work that whilst blue badge parking is accessible, it is not always available.

Healthwatch Thurrock made several attempts to obtain copies of supermarket policies of blue badge parking. They received 2/3 responses however a clear picture could not be defined with regards to ownership of the car parks, or with who the responsibility lay for monitoring the misuse of disabled bays, as described by the survey respondents.

They found through this work that residents largely feel supermarkets within Thurrock do not have an adequate amount of blue badge bays for people to use. This point was highlighted further by respondents saying the ratio for mother and toddler bays were significantly higher than those allocated for blue badge holders.

More than 60% of residents felt that bays were situated in an appropriate place within the car park, however this doesn’t solve the issue of misuse of the bays. It was noted that as the bays are by the entrance to the stores – people who do not hold a blue badge park here due to their attractive location as do work vehicles, blocking these spaces for those who need it.

The biggest finding from this survey was that 63% of residents had to abandon their shopping trip due to non-availability of disabled parking spaces. This highlights a huge gap and struggle for those who need these provisions.

The report contains recommendations.