Applying for a Disabled Persons Parking Place

Currently Hampshire County Council install two types of on street Disabled Persons Parking Places – enforced and advisory. Any newly requested Disabled Persons Parking Places installed within residential areas will be advisory only.

Enforceable Disabled Persons Parking Places

These are governed by a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO). This is a piece of legislation that means any vehicle parked in the parking place without displaying a valid Blue Badge may be issued a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).

These parking places can be identified by the presence of upright signage which is affixed to a post/wall, in addition to the white road markings. These types of parking places are commonly placed in town centre locations.

Advisory Disabled Persons Parking Places:

These are not subject to a TRO and thus cannot be enforced by the County Council or the police. Their effectiveness relies on motorists’ consideration and courtesy. They are also marked by white road markings but can be identified by the absence of any upright signage as described above.

Vehicles that are parked wholly or partially in these parking places would not be issued a PCN, unless they were in contravention of a separate, unrelated restriction. They are commonly placed in residential areas and are the fastest way to get a parking place “on the ground” without the need to go through the legal TRO process.

No. Disabled Persons Parking Places are not allocated to specific individuals or residences. They can be used by any Blue Badge holder. However, most advisory Disabled Persons Parking Places are installed at the request of individuals who hold a Blue Badge and do not have access to private parking at their property.

When installed, the parking place will be “linked” to this applicant in our records. If the applicant moves house or their circumstances change meaning they no longer qualify for the parking place, the markings will be removed.

Only if another eligible applicant requests the continued use of the parking place, will the markings be retained.

No. We only provide Disabled Persons Parking Places for vehicles registered at the applicant’s property. This is to prevent a parking space from remaining empty for long periods of the day when there may be a shortage of parking space for other residents.

Disabled Persons Parking Places are not provided for carers or family members visiting.

Once a completed application has been received an engineer will process your request. They will confirm that all eligibility criteria are met and will visit the site to assess suitable locations for the parking place.

Temporary markings will be placed on the road in preparation for the permanent markings installed by our contractors. The job is then created and passed to our contractors for completion.

We normally allow 8-12 weeks for the contractor to complete this type of work, however this could be subject to delays. The contractor will group together lining jobs in an area to tackle the work more economically.

The work can be affected by cold or wet weather making it difficult to advise when it will be completed with any certainty.

The contractor will contact neighbouring houses if the space is occupied when they visit and will make repeat visits if needed. In certain instance, traffic cones may be placed in the location prior to the works taking place.

If any other person should park in an advisory Disabled Persons Parking Place, it would not in itself constitute an offence. These parking places are dependent on the good will of others. If others do not show courtesy, there is no course of enforcement action available to the County Council or police.

You will need to submit a Disabled Persons Parking Place application so we can update our records.

Line painting works should only be carried out by approved council contractors using correctly prescribed methods and materials.

It is an offence for the public to mark lines or erect signs on the highway without the consent of the highway authority [Highways Act 1980 Section 132 (1)]:

132 Unauthorised marks on highways

1.) A person who, without either the consent of the highway authority for the highway in question or an authorisation given by or under an enactment or a reasonable excuse, paints or otherwise inscribes or affixes any picture, letter, sign or other mark upon the surface of a highway or upon any tree, structure or works on or in a highway is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding £100 or, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction under this subsection, to a fine not exceeding £200.