|
|
|
When officials tried to fob off DDMC member Greg Hayball over his complaint about an
outrageous case of disabled bay abuse, they didn’t reckon on his determination . . .
In the beginning (biblically known as Genesis) . . . December 1st. A pleasant winter’s sunny Sunday afternoon, what better than to take in some fresh, bracing Dorset air by the sea? So,
I loaded the car with the other half, my support dog and the camera (but not necessarily in that order), just thinking there may be something that might make a nice picture.
And was there? Oh, yes, was there ever? It’s a nice little harbour, West Bay. Handy, blue, wide
parking spaces, right by the harbour. A bit of fi shing, ice cream, burgers, a couple of nice pubs, lovely people, but I could not believe my eyes. There it was, big, blue – no, not the parking
space but what was parked, sorry moored, on it. Them in fact! A disabled boat. I knew it was disabled because it was parked, sorry moored, on two blue disabled parking bays. Right across
the both of them, on its own, by itself, looking proud and defi ant, waiting for her manicure and to get her bottom scraped.
I just had to get a picture or the lads in the pub would never believe me. They know how annoyed I get at supermarkets.
So I snapped off a couple and drove round to the other side of the harbour to park on double yellows, using my Blue Badge of course.
After taking the air, as well as the incriminating photographs, watching the world go by for a while and trying to think how to get Helena moved, we decided enough fresh air was enough. On arrival at home I just had to put something on to paper, apart from the photos. I decided to write to the Harbour Master, Tony Preston, and his boss, Peter Sunderland, at West Dorset Council offi ces in Dorchester.
I found the relevant addresses and typed away and two letters were in the post next morning.
Nothing was heard through the Christmas break so I wrote to Peter Sunderland again with a copy to his boss, David Clarke the Chief Executive of West Dorset District Council, care of the council offi ces (I was not being coy for anyone) and a county councillor, Sandra Brown, on
January 4. All I wanted to know was what was happening, or were my letters not received?
January 14. Now six weeks had passed. Not a thing, zilch, zero, nada, nil. No acknowledgement to my letters, nor a phone call. Were council employees still on their Christmas holiday?
After making enquiries I obtained the offi cial address of David Clarke and wrote him a letter direct. I also got the names and addresses of other county councillors and they all got a
personal copy of the same letter. I think this action must have stirred a little buzz around the council offi ces. After six days I actually got a response from Mr Sunderland: he apologised
profusely for the zero response, but I just could not believe the typical, local government letter he had written.
This man, of obvious intelligence to hold the position he does, was telling me that, “... the boat was placed on the quayside as it was due to be sold.” So what? “The boat does not
have a trailer and the method of lifting meant the boat had to be where it is.” Why?
He went on to explain that “the boat does not have a gearbox or engine as they have had to be removed for repair”. What has that to do with Helena being illegally parked? I was not aware,
nor any other person I mentioned this to, that a boat needed an engine to be moved on dry land.
Never mind. He went on to explain that it would be removed by Easter and that boats laid up for the winter were always stood on the quay-side. Maybe so, but not across two disabled
parking bays.
Well, I’m sorry; this really got me wound up. He was going to be disappointed and it was going to be moved well before Easter, believe me. So I wrote what I thought was a very
succinct and to-the-point letter in reply, with a copy to David Clarke.
I raised several points from Peter Sunderland’s letter that simply did not add up. Like, if a hoist had lifted Helena from the harbour basin, why did the driver deposit her on blue parking bays? Did he not know what they were? Did he not see the little yellow person in a wheelchair painted on the road?
Did not the crane or hoist he used have wheels or tracks? Could Helena, bless her, not have been sited 20 feet to one side, one direction or the other? She wouldn’t mind.
I further enquired, was he not aware of the fact that the blue parking bays, solely provided for disabled drivers, are somewhat wider, to allow more space to be able to get in and out of their car so as not to bump the car next to them, which could sometimes inadvertently happen in confi ned space? Their width eases obvious diffi culties disabled drivers may have, myself included, in alighting from their vehicle and allows them to do so in comparative comfort.
I quoted from an amendment to the Traffi c Management Bill of March 2004 penned by Tony McNulty, Minister of State for The Department of Transport, which states that anyone parked
on a blue disabled parking bay without the relevant Blue Badge is breaking the law and liable to a £1,000 fi ne. That’s anyone, folks, boats included. Oh, and I asked him politely to
“SHIFT THE FLAMING BOAT!”
It was suggested by dear Monica at the DDMC, when I called for advice, that I might get the police involved. So I contacted them. What a waste of a phone call? The young constable I spoke with thought I was having a laugh, I’m sure.
She sounded interested but really didn’t want to know as the harbour-side was council property and the council would have to be contacted to get the boat moved and as they put it there
in the fi rst place etc, etc. Talk about going round in circles. I thanked her, in the nicest possible way, for her “assistance” and hung up.
Back to the keyboard, then; more letter writing to do. I obtained the names and addresses of other county councillors, some of whom I know personally, and all of them got a letter.
The next step, of course, was to contact and attract several other “important” people to my cause namely:
West Dorset MP Dr Oliver Letwin, Tony McNulty Esc, Minister of State, Department for Transport (DfT), Charlotte Atkins MP Under Secretary of State for Mobility Issues, DfT, Mobility and Inclusion Unit, DfT; The Disability Rights Commission and National Parking Adjudication Service.
But I didn’t need to do all that writing. In the six days since hearing from the WDDC’s Peter Sunderland (January 21) and scribing some 18 or so letters, the sun shone brightly. On the evening of January 26 I received a telephone call from councillor, Roger StoodIey, who informed me that he had passed all my letters and information to the council’s legal department and had suggested to them they might get it sorted and SHIFT THE FLAMING BOAT!
At the time of writing, 4.30pm, 27th January 27, I am extremely pleased to inform you that there has been a happy outcome to this tale.
I receive a telephone call from Councillor Martin Ray, who tells me he is taking the air at the harbour in West Bay, enjoying the calm, the burgers, the view and watching the Harbour Master and council workmen - SHIFTING A FLAMING BOAT! Helena has had her Exodus.
It just proves that if you stick to your guns, the earth, or in this case the council, will move. Boats, too!
|
|
|
