Season ticket holders are being warned that changes will mean two city centre car parks can no longer be used from next month.
The Backcester Lane and Gresley Row facilities will be operated by Three Spires Shopping Centre from 1st March.
It means city centre car park season ticket holders will need to use alternative car parks.
Lichfield District Council has managed the two car parks on behalf of Three Spires Shopping Centre since they were first built, but the local authority said the company had now decided to take them in-house.
Cllr Liz Little, cabinet member responsible for economic development, said:
“We wanted to let our car park users know about the change in management of these two city centre car parks.
“From now on any enquiries about Backcester Lane and Gresley Row car parks should be directed to Three Spires Shopping Centre.”
Cllr Liz Little, Lichfield District Council
The car parks will have new contactless payment systems installed as part of the switchover to management by the Three Spires Shopping Centre.
What about bluebadge holders will it still be free parking
Who cares. If they want customers to even consider coming back to the high street, now devoid of most shops then they need to offer free parking for the foreseeable future.
Park in Tesco, it’s free for 3 hours
Is this a loss to the “Car Park” cash cow for LDC? and when the “Multi Story” car park the Bus Station end is refurbished will they take that back as well, as it is tied in contractedly with Three Spires Shopping Centre
Can disabled still park for free
Surely it should have been part of the handover that season tickets should be honoured, but then we are talking about LDC, who don’t seem able to do the right thing when it comes to such matters.
Tesco won’t be free for 3 hours for much longer. ANPR working has just been agreed, so you need to spend at least £5 in Tesco to get free charges. Not sure when it will be implemented, but its imminent
Joe Tesco will not be free shortly when you have to spend £5 in the shop to park there “for free”
@Joe – afraid not, ANPR just been approved on tescos to stop that. Minimum £5 spend at tesco to qualify or you’ll get a nice £50 (estimating here based on places like ALDI) fine.
So, who is going to give the answer to the question of how these new charges affect disabled parking which was free of charge until the Three Spires management too over.
It seems like a total lack of communication and transparency!
Interesting that disabled drivers with a blue badge now have to pay, I wonder how many have had parking fines who didn’t realize the cameras took their registration munber.
Yes I a Blue Badge holder, have picked up a £60 parking fine for parking in the Three Spires shopping car park in April not knowing that the management had changed in February. There has been poor to no communication of the changes in the charging system in place now.
This is the best way of driving customers away from Lichfield shopping. I certainly will not use the car park again and visit the city less in future.
Why should a blue badge holder park for free,I can understand why they can park nearer the shops but not why for free
ML – actively displaying his ignorance since the 1940s (where most of his attitudes seem to be firmly based)
@Geoff – “So, who is going to give the answer to the question of how these new charges affect disabled parking?…”
Geoff, this is the comments section of a free news blog. If you want to demand answers you need to contact either LDC or Three Spires… You could always let us all know what you find out…
Scott Armstrong answer the question why for free,in many towns and cities blue badge holders have to pay
ML – No. Find out for yourself.
Or, just wallow in your own myopic ignorance like you do on most subjects and disagree with anyone who dares to hold a different view to your own narrow-minded, blinkered set of dubious values.
BTW, be kind, take a knee, embrace the differences, love all, peace out.
ML- somewhat agree with your view. Not all people registered disabled are poor. As well as receiving benefits many do work in well paid jobs and consequently can afford to pay their way. The benefit they get with car parking is that basically their spaces are reserved, ours aren’t.
Not up to me to find answers but you,you have no idea a how old I am,b if I am a badge holder. Judging by your BLM attitude of taking a knee I think it is you that is blinkered. Again everyone or no-one should pay for parking,where they park in a carpark is a different argument
Scott, aren’t you pleasant. So should we be judgemental and categorise disabled as poorer people. Or should we remain indescriminatory and be able to ask such a question?
Ignorance is bliss. That’s why Lichfield is such a happy place to live.
Now, now, kids. Don’t make me come back there…
I was walking in town the other day and watched able badge holder park an overfinch modified range rover park in a
Disabled place. I am not against that but if you can afford an overfinch you can afford a pound an hour parking
ML – Blue Badges are allocated to an individual holder rather than to a particular vehicle, so they can be used in any car the holder travels in, including taxis and hire cars, and whether or not the holder is driving. The Blue Badge scheme is designed to enable drivers or passengers with disabilities as much freedom in getting around as possible and can make travelling by car much easier and more convenient for disabled people and their families.
So, an expensive car may well display a Blue Badge but its incorrect to assume the owner of that vehicle is the Blue Badge holder.
Lesson #1 is now complete.
Regardless of the vehicle, why is blue badge parking free?
It should be provided in an easy to access location, but why free ??
Always wonder why supermarkets provide baby and parent spaces closer to their door than disabled spaces- furs families generally spend more ?
Scott the only occupant was the driver of the very expensive car
Who cares how much parking is or runs the car parking facilities? There will shortly be no shops or businesses left in Lichfield to visit. Park up at Gresley and enjoy the vacant units and dreary charity stores. Sounds lovely.
ML – the driver may have been going to pick up a disabled passenger. He may have been doing a lot of things, but I wouldn’t want to assume.
Eligibility for a Blue Badge comes in two forms. Some people are automatically eligible for a badge. For other conditions, you may be eligible but will need to complete an assessment process through the local council.
You are automatically entitled to receive a Blue Badge if you’re registered as blind or receive any of the following benefits: the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) at the higher rate (for under 65s); Personal Independence Payment (PIP) with a score of 8 or above in the ‘moving around’ section of the assessment (you’ll be asked to provide a duplicate of your entitlement letter with a date within the past 12 months); or a lump-sum War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement payment (at tariffs 1 to 8) after being certified as having a serious disability, which means you are unable or find it very difficult, to walk.
The Blue Badge schemehas now been extended to include people with non-visible disabilities, which will make it easier for people with conditions such as dementia, Parkinson’s, autism, epilepsy and arthritis to qualify.
Lesson #2 is now over.
Scott the driver was alone,parked up and walked away with a stick,came back and drove off, if you read every word instead of what you want to think it says you will see I am not against blue badges just they should pay like everyone else especially when driving very expensive cars
Scott, you’re not answering the question of why it should be free. You’re going on tangents to fit an argument we’re not interested in. We are being non judgemental by asking this. Otherwise do we accept that disabled people are poor and less financially able?
Also, you’ve labelled people on here as being ignorant and you’ve been ageist. Nice own goal there!
I have not been into the centre of Lichfield for a long time, since the changes in Blue Badge parking, it has made much of the town a no go area for me personally. I have mobility issues, which are painful, gradually getting worse with time spent moving, so I don’t get to go very far, the closer I can get in my car the better.
Well paid jobs, big cars? Of course! all disabled people are just rolling in it. I have had all the stupid comments about my car, a new motability vehicle, which I have to use all of my PIP mobility allowance to pay for every month. I also need the disabled spaces to get in & out, a “normal” space does not work, having had to park “normally” behind B&M for an appointment when all of the disabled bays were in use, I came back to find a car parked close up against my drivers door, I had no option but to wait in the library and a cafe for three hours until the car had moved.
I still have legs, stand, walk very short distances and use aides, with a wheelchair for longer outings I consider myself “lucky” compared for instance to a lady I witnessed recently, who had a fully adapted car that she transferred from directly into a wheelchair after she single handedly assembled it from the drivers seat. If she had dropped a wheel, then she would have been stranded, it’s a real struggle, and they haven’t even started out of the car park to the shops. Most people just don’t realise how hard it is.
If you think it’s OK to criticise the amount of disabled parking, or how close it is, or why it should be free to its users, knock yourself out, but it’s clear to me, and probably most others, that you really should keep your opinion to yourself.
ML & P – what Adam says.
So what if it is free? There are limited spaces for disabled parking as it is!
ML – have you read every word. Learned anything yet?
In many places Blue Badge holders do have to pay for parking, so it is by no means automatically free. Where it is free, it is an acknowledgement that the disabled person does not have the same freedom of choice in getting to shops etc, and has to use a car to get there. A large proportion of disabled people are worse off than most, having to rely on benefits and other support, and if you think benefits are generous try living off them as your only income. There are exceptions of course, just as there are a small number who fiddle the system, but this is a low number, and most systems will be abused by some. Complaining about disabled people parking free strikes me as the worst form of jealousy. I’m sure such people wouldn’t be jealous of the disability.
You’re all ignoring the fact that the reason free parking has been removed for Blue Badge users is because they no longer employ a parking attendant to check for tickets.
It’s all an ‘eye in the sky’ ANPR system now, which means your reg is recorded as you enter, when you exit and then checked against the database of purchased tickets.
There’s no method to verify a blue badge. Hence it being easier to just charge everyone, regardless of disability. There’s no discrimination going on here, just a simple solution to a modern cost-saving exercise.
The blue badge holders are generally allowed to park free on an LA car park but not on private land.
I am not a blue badge holder but I have had the experience of being dragged through the courts by this firm that have taken over the management of these car parks. I refused to pay the PCN. I think that the Three Spires Shopping Centre will regret this decision.
Be very careful here now. I’ve been caught out after their online payment system failed and they’re now pursuing me. The shopping centre doesn’t want to know after complaining, even after I cited legislation to them explaining how Excel are operating outside of statue by trying to enforce PCNs issued outside of the 14 days required by PoF Act 2012. I encourage everyone to bombard the centre manager, with complaints of predatory practice when it occurs. Disgrace blue badge holders can no longer use it free.
PCN received June 2021 – for a ‘Contravention’ April 2021
Park at Backcester in a disabled bay (blue badge) – 54mins, was not aware that LDC was no longer responsible – no local papers issued during lockdown to Burntwood area – where was / is the change of use / planning permission details for the APNR?
PCN for £100, ignoring now £160.
as above post – PCN outside of the 14 day statute, company is a sham, and Three Spires are worse for allowing it to continue.
Excel are not the Landowner/ Landlord so have no rights to any claim for tresspass.
Currently Carparking & Disabled bays are being looked at as a whole because Under the equality acts, a disabled person should not have to be charged for a something that abled bodied take for granted.
@Percy – can you get in touch with me about this: joanne.grange@lichfielddc.gov.uk
Thank you Joanne, I have sent an email today (11.08.2021 at 17:34)
For others, interestingly LDC’s very own Visit Lichfield page dated 25th May 2021 displayed that Backcester Lane and Gresley Row were still free to use for Blue badge holders.
Archive of the site can be found here by using google:
1) search for wayback archive and select the result (it will be a .org site)
2) at the top of the site entre the Visit Lichfield site that shows the parking details this is: http://www.visitlichfield.co.uk/accessibility
3) Click Browse History
4) You will then be presented with a tile line to select the relevant year and number of calendars for the day/month – hover/click on 2021 then the 25 May (this number will be highlighted)
5) You will now be presented with time options from when it was last saved.
Clicking on any of the times here will take you to what the site looked like on the 25th May 2021