I think the article was very biased and done on the basis of a Press release to get the named site some press coverage.
Yes i agree Parent and baby bays are needed but at the expense of disabled bays,GET REAL WILL THEY!
Do they not realise that people also have disabled children,believe it or not i get funny looks for pulling into a parents and disabled bay with Euan when my blue badge is on display
Its almost like they want to say well used the disabled bay.
Well my son is a little boy who also has a disability.
Why dont they simply enforce the bays they have got rather than picking on the disabled bays.
I cant believe a site that also has a SPECIAL NEEDS FORUM could possibly run a story about disabled bays being a bad thing.

I just tried to make a post on netmums special needs area to highlight to there members what NETMUMS think about disabled bays and point them to this thread but it appears i am not allowed to post there.

How can such a site claim to support parents of disabled children and then put out a statement like this??

If there are any netmums members here could you place a link on the special needs forum highlighting this thread as i would like a response from them..............

---

Our Irish members can also use our new website for Ireland which is

I was on netmums for a while but as I dont share home made soup recipes or pay them to advertise my home business I was shunned so left.............. it's all about the money over there from what I remember so anyone could get anything published for the right price
I was also on a site called yourable which had some very knowledgeable people when it came to parking/mobility issues etc but that site got closed or bought and shut.
It would be good to get some more newspaper coverage though. Our local rag did a few days of naming and shaming people using parent and child bays at Tesco and Asda but nothing about the disabled parking at all

Open letter to Editor at Netmums which has been sent by Email
Response pending

To whom it may concern,
My name is Daniel and i am the founder of http://www.parentsofdisabledchildren.co.uk
The purpose of my email this evening is to express my concern at a recent press release which appeared in the Daily Mail dated 20th Febuary 2010.
The articles angle seemed to give the impression you were against the present numbers of disabled bays in public places such as Supermarkets.

My question to your team is why do you feel that disabled bays should be reduced in order to increase more parents and baby bays?

Whilst i understand that parents need ease of access to places like supermarkets this should not be at the expense of disabled drivers and passengers.

I note you run a special needs section on your website in which many of your members would also be blue badge holders will you make your press release public to them on your special needs forum for there feedback?

Would you actually say to parents of special needs children that they are not needy of disabled bays as mothers with a child and shopping deserve them more?

I for one and many of our members can not see these extra bays that are unused and remain empty as me and many members of our site are often driving around looking for a suitable parking space because all bays are taken already many of which by parents with young children.

I thought i would bring to your attention a thread on our website http://www.parentsofdisabledchildren.co....t-786.html in which a copy of this open email will be displayed to members and should you wish to respond to this email i would be happy to display your response.

In the meantime we shall be responding to this article with a press release and also asking your special needs members to boycott your site until a retraction is made.

Kind regards

Daniel

http://www.parentsofdisabledchildren.co.uk

i had a look at one of the coffee morning thingies about parking and i dont think a lot of the parents agree with comparing the spaces lol some got quite volatile, one point they did make was not to make more spaces but move them further from the store to stop most ppl who are lazy using them as they just want wider spaces so they can get Children out.
http://www.netmums.com/coffeehouse/house...paces.html
not talking about this news story

i got a good solution that i use I DRIVE AN OLD CAR so dont care if the door gets a scratch on it thats what t-cut if for hehe. i dont park in a disabled bay even with matt unless there is no other spaces i leave them for ppl with wheelchairs or disabled buggies, matt can walk, he will stay by the car until we are ready to leave but if only spaces near to where we going is disabled i will use it rather than try and walk him through cars (he can get through but leaves me the other side as i bigger than him hehe) and only once have i been forced to use a p@c space due to ppl not disabled using the bays at a small supermarket.

Well ive managed to place a thread on the special needs forum and i am awaiting some feedback from them.
I would imagine this will be deleted.

My post is currently still active.