A disabled woman is reportedly facing fines of more than £1,000 for using a disabled-driver car parking space outside her flat.
Cerys Gemma, who lives in Cardiff, told reporters the space allocated to her flat is inaccessible as it has a pillar on one side and another car parking space close on the other.
The 34-year-old, who has been using a wheelchair since sustaining serious spinal injuries in a car accident when she was 17, has been using one of the parking spaces reserved for visitors with disabilities as an alternative.
Gemma has now been ordered to pay the fines by the county court, the BBC reported.
New Generation Parking Management, which manages the bays at Prospect Place in Cardiff Bay and took Gemma to court, said the spaces have to be kept free for disabled visitors, not residents.
Gemma told the BBC she had been in contact with the property management and parking companies, trying to explain why she needed to use a wheelchair-accessible space.
New Generation, which is contracted by Prospect Place Management, a client of the property management firm Ringley Group, told the BBC: “We want to make clear, if we allow one resident to utilise a disabled visitor space as their own, we would need to allow all requests from residents which we have received over the years.
“This would no doubt reduce the availability of disabled spaces for disabled visitors.”
New Generation Parking (NGP) said it was simply enforcing the rules to which Prospect Place agreed when it was instructed to manage the site.
It said: “We cannot make changes to these rules unless agreed by the board of directors; therefore, in light of the continued distress that this is causing Ms Gemma, we will take steps to ensure this is discussed at the next board meeting.”
Ringley Group stressed that it was NGP that had taken her to court, not Ringley, adding it understood that the parking space that came with Gemma’s apartment was currently being used by a friend.
“This means that she has been attempting on a continuous basis to park an additional car onsite in a visitor space, despite already having been allocated one resident’s car parking space,” a spokesperson said.
“Residents’ car parking spaces form part of the leasehold agreement and are not allocated by Ringley.
“Ringley has met with the local council to try to find a solution. One solution is for her to return her space back to the freeholder and then to sit down with the site team and identify spaces that might be suitable for her and for us to arrange a space swap with another owner.
“There is a short supply of visitor spaces, which are for use for all, which is why we cannot provide her permanent use of a disabled visitor parking space.”
